An Extra Heart
by Crystal Fissure
Summary: .:Complete!:. The whole retelling of the Kingdom Hearts story with the exception of an extra character. How will her presence shift the storyline?
1. Akyra

Yay! I finally attempted a fanfic!! Tell me what you think of it after you read it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I do own Akyra!

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It was a beautiful sunny day on the Destiny Islands. But Akyra knew very well that the beautiful paradise-like day wouldn't last too long the moment she heard Sora yell in fright. She quickly ran up to him.

"Dreaming again?" she asked.

"No, no you don't get it!" he said quickly, "this huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't......Ow!" he yelled continuously.

"Drea-ming", she said in her special sing-song voice. That voice usually irritated Sora. But he knew she was teasing.

"Where are you from, the opera?" he asked sarcastically. "No, but really, Akyra, what's your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?" he asked with eagerness.

"I've told you before, I don't remember", she said (Sora's face fell) "but I keep dreaming about his haunted place somewhere far from here. It's pretty spooky but I feel like I belong there. I wouldn't mind going to see it!" she said with excitement.

"I want to see it too!" he exclaimed, "along with all the other worlds out there! I wanna see them all!"

She quickly replied, "Planning on exploring every one of them with me?"But as soon as he started nodding with excitement, a piece of wood came flying in his direction.

"Am I supposed to build this raft on my own?" said a familiar voice. It was Riku who was shortly followed by Kairi.

"People are getting lazy, Riku" she said, "especially us girls. Akyra, I was looking for you everywhere, come I want to show you something." Akyra followed her, looking back at Sora while she was walking. Akyra liked Sora. But she knew well, in her heart, that Sora would never return those same feelings.

The four friends worked hard in building their raft. They were eager to leave the Destiny Islands to explore other worlds. Especially Akyra, arriving at the Islands when she was only 3 years old, and having no memory whatsoever of her hometown. She, unlike the others, was pretty different. She had long dark pink hair, wore a yellow tank top and a red miniskirt. For a 14 year old, not bad. She also wore tons of chains around her neck and her waist. But she wore one particular necklace that gives her more reason to want to find her past. It has a crown charm with a tiny star in the middle. She treasured it forever. She also lived with her dad alone. She doesn't know where her mom is.

"Daydreaming again, Akyra" rang a familiar voice.

"Sorry"

"That's okay," replied Kairi, "all we really need is a cloth for the sail and one more fish, but Sora's taking care of that. And tomorrow, we set sail for other worlds!"

"I'm ready!" perks up Akyra.

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Me: Hee hee waits for reviews

Sora Fangirls: Hey a new ficcy! We can taunt another person!

Me: No! I like Sora! I just don't like Riku!

Riku Fangirls: Ha! You don't like Riku? Off with her head, girls!

Sora Fangirls: They're onto a Sora lover! Get them!!

(cat fight between Sora and Riku fangirls)

Me: (runs out of sight)


	2. Up, Up and Away!

Me: Yay!! Chapter2 is up!!

Audience: Yay! As if we don't know what's going to happen

Disclaimer: I'm too poor to own Kingdom Hearts. But I'm rich enough to own Akyra!  
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After the evening meal, Akyra went to her room, thinking about their adventure starting tomorrow. She peered out the window and gasped. A storm, a horrible storm, was brewing outside.

"The raft!" she yelled, remembering it. She climbed out of the window crept slowly to her boat, so her father doesn't notice she's gone.  
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Once at the Island, she noticed Sora, Kairi and Riku's boat were all docked to the side. She started running to where the raft lay, until something stopped her dead in her tracks. Something, a something, was creeping out of the floor. It resembled a black bug with crooked antennas. It also had glowing yellow eyes. Alert, she took out her fans and tried to defend herself. Realizing her play-battle weapons don't work, she ran through them dodging them as much as she can, while making her way to the bridge, where she got a second shock. Something black was covering Riku. Too afraid to go near him, she ran back down the bridge and into a curious door she noticed earlier. She opened the door, hoping she would find her friends when a really hard wind sent her flying into the sky.  
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She woke up on the remainders of the Destiny Islands. She quickly got up noticing she was in danger. She didn't feel herself holding her fans anymore. Looking down, she noticed she was holding a real weapon. It was long and silver with writing around it. At the tip, was a silver heart?

"Take that!" she heard someone yell. She ran around and found Sora, attacking a huge, black monster. He was falling. It didn't look like he would make it.

"Sora!" she yelled. She ran up to the monster and whacked it on the arm several times. The monster then suddenly kneeled back and fell to the floor. A blue heart was floating out of it.

"Sora!" Akyra kept yelling. While running to him, the same strong wind sent her flying to the sky, once again. Up, up, up and away.......  
  
Akyra opened her eyes lazily, thoughts of what just happened running through her head. Once her eyes fully opened, she jerked up and gasped. She wasn't anywhere in the Destiny Islands. On the contrary, she was in a weird sort of town.

"This isn't a dream..." she thought. "Where am I?"

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Me: Haha, suspense!

Audience: There is no suspense! We already know what's going to happen!

Me: I shouldn't have made you!!! Your not on my side at all!! I guess I'll have to erase you!

Audience: No!!! We love your fanfic!

Me: That wasn't so hard, was it?


	3. Welcome to Traverse Town

Me: There! A nice short chapter!

Audience: (groans)

Me: Hey, you're supposed to be happy!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than Akyra  
  
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On that very moment, Sora started waking up.

"What a dream...." he kept whispering.

"Whoa!!" he yelled as a big yellow dog jumped on him. "This isn't a dream!" he continued frantically. "Do you know where we are?" he asked the dog. But at that very moment, the dog ran around the corner and out of sight. Sora decided to follow him...  
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"What are we supposed to do here?" asked Goofy.

"We're looking for the king, you big palooka!" replied Donald evilly, "Now where do we start?"

"I suggest we go find Leon," answered Goofy.

"What do you know about finding people and especially impor- AAAA!!" he yelled without finishing his sentence. A girl with long braided brown hair and a pink dress tapped him on the shoulder.

"Did the king send you?" she asked.  
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Sora turned the corner and opened the door. He was in some sort of...shop. A really weird looking accessory shop.

"You lost, kid?" asked the man behind the table.

"Me? Lost? No way! And I'm no kid! I'm Sora and I'm 14 years old!" he yelled.

"Okay, okay relax! Now are you lost?" he asked slowly.

"No.....maybe......a little bit.....okay, I'm lost!" answered Sora, "But who said you could help me?" he stammered.

"I fled my world when the heartless attacked and I've been asking people ever since. Satisfied?" he asked.

"Okay.....I'm looking for my friends. They're Kairi, Riku and Akyra. Seen any?" he asked.

"Not your age, no," the man answered.

"Okay, have you ever heard of the Destiny Islands?"

"Nope, neither," the man answered again.

"Then I guess you can't help me," said Sora, as he made his way to the door.

"Wait!" the man called, "if you leave then I suggest you go find Leon, he'll help. And if you venture too far, you can come back to me, I'll look after you. The name's Cid." Sora nodded in approval and head for the door.

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Once out, he ventured through the first district, until he entered the second district. He made two or three steps until he felt something was wrong. Watching the floor, he jumped back.

"The creatures from the island!" he yelled. The bug-like monsters crept from the floor and jumped up at him as he frantically tried to pull them apart.

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Me: There wasn't that nice and short?

Audience: This story better get better!

Me: It will get better!!! Trust me!

Audience: Should we really trust you?


	4. All Is Explained

Me: Sorry this was a bit late but I went on vacation!! Whoooo!!

Audience: Hoorah?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I own Akyra, yay!   
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Akyra walked slowly down the bridge. A shout and a moan made her look the other way. Looking up ahead she saw those creatures from the island. Prepared to run the other way, she caught a glimpse of someone familiar. Someone with brown hair and red shorts.....

"Sora!" she yelled. "Sora, don't worry, I'm coming!" she yelled continuously.

With the most strength she could muster, she smacked a few of the monsters with her heart-like weapon. A few more smacks finished them off. Panting, she then ran to Sora.

"Are you okay?" she yelled holding him by the shoulders. "Wake up! Please wake up!" she kept yelling.

Sora mumbled something and started to open his eyes.

"Hey," he mumbled, "you look like Akyra."

"I am Akyra, silly" she said.

"Huh, huh! Wha???! Akyra!!! Is it really you?" he yelled as he started pulling on her cheek. "You look pretty real, and you feel real too. Are you sure I'm not dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming!" she yelled, yanking his hand away from her cheek, "I'm very real, and you're awake!"

The moment she said those words, the same creatures rose out of the ground and crawled towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" Sora yelled.

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They ran back out of the tall wooden doors, dodging the bug-like creatures. The monsters seemed to have stopped following them in front of the accessory shop.

"How many.....can there possibly......be?" Sora said, still catching his breath.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere." a man's voice said. Surprised, Sora looked up.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." the man continued. "But why would it choose a kid like you?" the man said, as he stepped forward, rubbing his forehead.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akyra asked.

"Never mind. Now, let's see that Keyblade."

"What?" Sora shouted, "There is no way you're getting this!"

"Fine have it your way", the man said, whipping out his gunblade. "Yuffie!" he shouted, "take the girl and bring her with us!"

At that moment, a young woman with short black hair ran out of the corner and grabbed Akyra by the arm.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," she said as she dragged a struggling Akyra down to the second district.

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A few minutes passed. Yuffie seemed to have dragged Akyra to some hotel room.

"Your friend will be arriving shortly," she said, "just be patient..."

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She was right. In a few more minutes, the man arrived, holding the two weapons and carrying an unconscious Sora over his shoulder.

"He got beaten pretty badly," said Yuffie, "but he'll come around. I'm Yuffie by the way, who are you?"

"I'm Akyra"

"Well, Akyra, we've got some explaining to do once your friend wakes up."

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Sora started stirring, and slowly sat up. Yuffie walked over to him.

"Wake up, sleepy head! You okay?"

"Uh?" he said. "Kairi? Is that you?" "Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie said. "I think you may have overdone it, Squall!" Yuffie said to the man.

"That's Leon." he said evilly.

"Sora!" Akyra yelled, running up to him, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, "I guess I'm fine. Thanks for saving me from those creatures before. What were they, anyway?"

"Sora, we've got some things we need to discuss," said Yuffie, pointing to the Keyblade.

"It's hard to believe, that you, of all people are the Chosen One." Leon said, and suddenly, the Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in Sora's hands.

"Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers." he continued, pacing to the bed.

"We don't get it," Akyra said in her sing- song voice.

"Well, you know that there are many different worlds, right?" said Yuffie.

"I guess so." Sora said.

"Well, the worlds use to be isolated, never connected. Before the Heartless came. They are beings without hearts. They are the monsters that attacked you. But they have great fear of the Keyblade. And they also seek the heart of the one who wields it."

"That's why they're going to keep coming after you, no matter what." Leon finished.

"Well, I didn't ask for this!" Sora yelled.

"Well, tough luck." Leon replied.

"Keyblade," Sora whispered, looking at his weapon, resembling an oversized key.

"There's still more," Yuffie continued. "There is also something called a Staffblade," she said, pointing this time to Akyra's heart-like weapon. "A Staffblade," she continued, "is a loyal weapon. It protects the Keyblade in deadly circumstances. And it always stands by the Keyblade's side, ready to defend it. But the Staffblade also chooses its master, just like the Keyblade. But the Staffblade chooses the Key bearer's closest friend. The one that it knows will never give up on the Keyblade master. The one who the Keyblade master can always count on...."

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At that same moment, Donald, Goofy, and Aerith were in the red room of the hotel. She had just finished explaining about the Keyblade.

"Then I guess we have to find the Keyblade bearer," Goofy suggested.

"Fine, we'll look in the third district," Donald grumbled. Just then, Leon burst into the room.

"Aerith, go with Yuffie!" he shrieked. The girl in the pink dressed perked up and ran after Yuffie.

"Sora, Akyra! Come with me!"

"What's going on?" Donald yelled. As though they heard his question, a few Heartless ran across the hallway, following Leon and two other teenagers.

"I suggest we leave," Goofy suggested again.

"Shut up and run!" Donald yelled at him, as they ran to the other side of the hotel.

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Me: There! I tried to make it longer, and I added more detail! What do you think?

Akyra: Do I have to fight Heartless?

Me: Duh! You own the Staffblade!

Akyra: I didn't ask for this!

Me: You are my ficcy character, and I can do anything I want to you! Mwahahahahahaha!! I love the power!

Akyra: (grumbles)


	5. The Knight Dog and the Spellcasting Duck

Me: I made this one nice and long for you!

Audience: Yay!!

Me: Akyra meets someone new at the end of the chapter!

Audience: Who?

Me: That's the thrill of it! You don't know so it's suspense....whooooo..

Audience: (groans)

Disclaimer: I'm sure you're smart enough to know that I don't own Kingdom Hearts and that I only own Akyra.

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"Where to?" Akyra asked as they ran through the alleyway and into the second district, once again.

"Well," Sora answered, "we should go check out the third district, like Leon told us."

So they made their way to a gleaming door at the end of the district, fighting Heartless from time to time.

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"No ones here, sure is spooky," Goofy said, with a little twitch in his voice.

"Ah, I'm afraid of no Heartless, just close your eyes if you're scared," Donald said, moving backwards.

But the more he moved backwards, he bumped into something.

"Okay, Goofy, what did I just bump into?" he asked shaking.

"HEARTLESS!!!!!"

Donald jumped up and whirled around, to face Goofy.

"Jump off the balcony, it's our only hope!"

"I am not jumping!"

"No choice!!!" Donald yelled.

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Down below, the two teens walked slowly across the District.

"Someone's here, I can hear them." Akyra remarked.

"WHOA!! LOOK OUT BELOW!!" screamed a chirpy voice.

Before they knew it, the two teens were on the ground. Two someones had fallen on top of them from the sky.

"The Key..." the two strangers said, gazing at Sora's Keyblade.

At that same moment, the ground started to rumble and many groups of Heartless appeared ready to fight.

"Hey, you can fight right?" Akyra asked the strangers.

"We sure can!" they piped up.

"Then let's get'em!!"

The Heartless were mainly easy, but what came next surprised the 4 fighters. Two purple legs, two matching hands, and a matching torso flew out of the sky, and connected themselves together. A Heartless symbol was engraved in the middle of the torso.

"We can take it on, can't we?" Sora said, looking at the others.

No time for an answer, because the huge Heartless stroke at them. Three of them went attacking for the torso but Akyra waited on one corner, thinking. When attacking the torso, it doesn't lose any power, but when attacking its arms and legs, it grew weaker...

"I got it! Hey, everyone! Attack the rest of its body parts first and then leave the torso for last!!"

Following her orders, the three fighters went attacking the body parts. Then they went for the torso....

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Once succeeded in defeating the Heartless, they noticed a blue orb, the shape of a heart, hovering above of the Heartless, before floating away into the nightly sky.

"Ahem!"

The teens whirled around and stared at the strangers for a bit. For strangers, they looked a little too strange. A short grumpy looking duck and a very tall dog.

"Alright, which one of you has the Keyblade?" the duck asked.

"Um...I do," Sora said, stepping out bravely.

"YES! Goofy, we found the key and the wielder!"

"They too have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade," a voice behind them said.

They all whirled around and saw Leon and Yuffie standing there.

"Why is everyone looking for this?" Sora asked meekly.

"Forget that," the duck said impatiently, "you'll be coming with us."

"What!?! Why?" the teens screeched.

"We have special instructions to find the Key master and find our king!" the dog said.

"Okay wait, I'm confused," Sora said, "your king left, sent you to find me, and then to go find him again? With me?"

"Exactly!" the dog said.

"Sora, go with them," Leon said, "and who knows? You may even find your friends." he continued.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Sora said sadly, tilting his head forward.

"We'll go with our vessel!" the dog said happily.

"Vessel?" Akyra asked.

"But you can't come looking like that!" the duck said to Sora.

"This boat runs on happy faces, so no sad ones, alright?"

"Come on, smile!" the three friends told him.

Finally, Sora smiled. In fact, it was such a corny smile, that they were rolling with laughter after seeing it.

"That's one funny face!" The dog said.

"Alright, why not? I'll go with you guys!" Sora said.

"I guess I'm coming too." Akyra said.

"Oh no, you're not!" the duck said pointing his finger to Akyra.

Miffed, she yelled, "What do you mean, no? I'm the Staffblade bearer and I follow the Keyblade EVERYWHERE!!!" she screamed.

"Ok, good enough, you can come!" the duck yelled back at her.

"Donald Duck" he said.

"Goofy, the dog said.

"I'm Sora"

"I'm Akyra," she said putting her hand down the middle.

"All for one and one for all" Goofy finished.

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"How about you stay at the hotel for the night?" Yuffie suggested later on.

"Sure," Akyra said, "but we don't have any munny."

"Oh that's okay! The owner was driven out of here once the Heartless took over. It's empty now, so you can use it. No charge."

"Great!" Akyra said merrily as she looked for two rooms with four separate beds.

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"We're back!!" Donald and Goofy yelled as they entered the room with loaded paper bags.

"These are our supplies!" Goofy said, spilling green containers on the table. "These are potions" he continued, holding up a green container, "it will heal you when you're hurt in battle. And this is an ether," he said, holding up a blue container, "and these restore magic points, for more spellcasting."

"And they're for ME!" Donald pointed out.

"Well I spellcast too!" Akyra pointed out, "So you better share them!"

Donald was about to answer back, but let it go.

"Okay, now that we have supplies, we can get a good night's sleep, and then tomorrow, we set for new worlds!" Goofy cheered.

"Good night Sora. Good night Akyra. Good Night Donald."

"Good night Akyra. Good night Goofy. Good night Donald."

"Good night Sora. Good night Goofy. Good night Donald."

"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Donald shouted after them.

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Feeling restless, Akyra couldn't sleep that night. The same thoughts kept going through her head. Why did the Staffblade choose her? Wasn't Kairi or Riku a better friend to Sora than she ever was? What did she have that connected so much with Sora that the others didn't have? Questions unanswered, she decided to stretch her legs and walk down the hall. While walking, she tried to sort out her thoughts until she remembered something Kairi told her. She said that whenever she needs to sort out her thoughts, to write them down on paper. So Akyra took out a paper and pen, sat down on a chair and started scribbling down her thoughts. All the questions that don't make sense and all the possible answers she may have, which only mixes her up even more. Frustrated, she threw her pen across the table and stomped her foot on the floor.

"Hey! Are you making all that noise?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Who said that? Where are you?" she asked.

"Down here!" the anonymous voice said.

She looked down to the floor. Nobody there.

"On your right shoe, silly!"

Looking on her right shoe, sure enough, someone was on it. He was about three inches tall wearing a green suit and a dark brown hat, from which sprouted two antennas.

"Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket!"

"Jiminy Cricket?"

"Donald and Goofy haven't told you who I am, then"

"No they didn't"

"Well see, I came from another world. When it got destroyed, I went to Donald and Goofy. When their king disappeared, they had to go find someone with a "key". So I went with them on their search."

"Why? How will finding the key help you?"

"Oh, I'm not trying to find the key. I'm keeping a journal, where I write about everywhere we go, everything we see, and everyone we meet," he said, holding up a notebook slightly bigger than him.

"Oh I see."

"But there is one problem. When I sit on Donald, he's too short, and the Heartless come too close to me. But when I sit on Goofy, he's so tall that I can't see anything that is happening down below. And I tried Sora too, but let's just say that he's too agitated. I'm likely to fall off him during battle. But you're the right size, and you don't move around much. So, can I sit on your shoulder while we're on our journey?"

"Why sure Jiminy! I'll let you sit on my shoulder!"

"Really? Thanks, uh...."

"Akyra"

"Akyra! Thanks Akyra. We're going to be really good friends."

"I can count on that," she said looking at the clock. "We should get back to bed; the others will wake up soon."

So she went back to her room and made a little Kleenex bed for Jiminy and put it on her bedside table. "It would be fun to have someone writing about what we see right over my shoulder." She thought as she slipped into bed and closed the table lamp.

"Good night Jiminy" she said.

"Good night Akyra" Jiminy answered in a sleepy voice.

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Me: Nice and long....

Akyra : Ooh, I feel so important!

Audience: That's it? That's who Akyra meets? You said she would meet someone important!

Me: He is important!

Audience: ¬.¬


	6. Dreams and Memories

Me: Cool!! I update one chapter a day! And plus I make them longer!! I'm so proud of myself!!

Audience: So are we!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I do own Akyra!! Hahahahahaha!!!

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"GOOD MORNING, AKYRA!!!!" Goofy yelled at the top of his lungs as Akyra entered the main room, "Your breakfast is ready!!! And I made it special just for you!" he said, handing Akyra a plate of eggs and a slice of bacon, shaped like a happy face. "Eat up! We got to explore new worlds today!"

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"Okay we're ready to leave!" Goofy yelled at them while strapping a few things in the vessel.

"And Sora's NOT UP YET!!" Donald screeched.

"Fine, I'll go wake him up," Akyra said, walking to his room.

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"How could he sleep for so long?" Jiminy asked, poking his head out of Akyra's pocket.

"We'll find out now," she said, opening his door.

She walked up to his bedside, but the closer she got to him, the more blurry the room became, and she started losing her balance as well. Her eyes started glowing yellow as she fell on her knees.

"Akyra, what's wrong?!?" Jiminy asked. A worried look was on his face. "Akyra, WAKE UP!!"

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"What happened," she groaned as she started to sit up.

The last thing she remembered was walking up to Sora's bedside. But she wasn't in the room anymore. She wasn't even in Traverse Town. The sun was setting on a blue ocean.

"Am I home?" she thought.

She got up and looked around. She was back on the Destiny Islands. Further away, Sora and Kairi were sitting on the bridge, talking and laughing, as though the Heartless had never invaded their island.

"Have I gone back in time?" she thought again.

Just then the ground started to rumble and the sky turned dark. A dark blue orb hung above the sky. She looked back at Sora and Kairi. But Kairi had disappeared. A huge black heartless, with a heart carved through his body, was advancing forward towards Sora. But Sora had no Keyblade... She ran forward and lifted her Staffblade into the air, and brought it down on the monster's arm with all her might. The Heartless kneeled down and fell to the floor in only one hit.

"That was easy!" Akyra thought.

But a strong wind sent her flying away, as she heard Sora's yells for Kairi drowning in the background...

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"Is she alive?"

"She's still breathing."

"Then she must be alive."

Akyra opened her eyes lazily. Three figures were on top of her.

"She's alive!" Sora yelled with glee.

"What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in Traverse Town, duh!" Donald told her.

"B-but I was on the Destiny Islands just a few seconds ago! And a huge Heartless attacked Sora and then I attacked it and then it was defeated and then-

"A wind sent you flying to the sky?" Sora finished, "I dreamt about the same thing!"

"But how is that?" Akyra asked,

"How did you know I was gone?"

"You weren't gone." Jiminy said, "You were walking to Sora's bed and then you started walking weird and you fell on your knees. Then you got up again, but you're eyes were glowing yellow instead of blue and then you put your hand over Sora. Then I went to go get help from Donald and Goofy."

"Then what really happened to me?"

"We can always go ask Merlin, you know." Donald said.

"Who's Merlin?" Sora asked.

"You'll se when we get there!" Donald hooted.

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"Here's the door!" Donald said as they approached a door with a fire symbol on the front. "Now how do we get in again...?"

Akyra thought for a bit, staring at the fire symbol. Probably the door has something to do with fire...

"FIRE!!" she yelled, pointing her staff to the door.

A small ball of flames burst out of her staff and hit the door.

"Oh, Akyra, that's very smart!" Donald said sarcastically, "If we can't open the door, we might as well set the door on f-"

He couldn't finish his sentence when the fire on the door sank in and the door flew right open.

"What were you saying?" she asked sarcastically. Donald grumbled as they entered the next room.

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"See the house down there?" Donald said pointing to the small wooden house across the pond,

"That's where he lives. But to get there we have to jump on those rocks but be careful! They-"

"JUMPING??" Sora yelled, "Oh boy, I love jumping!"

He ran to the edge and jumped toward the first stone. But before he landed on it, the rock moved left, and Sora fell into the water.

"Move..." Donald finished.

Once Sora was out of the water, they tried again, and skipped all the way to Merlin's house.

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"Are you sure anybody lives here?" Akyra asked as they entered a very empty room.

"Sure he does!" Donald answered.

"Hello, I'm Merlin," a voice said.

Akyra whirled around and sure enough a man was standing behind them. He wore blue robes and a tall blue hat and he had a long beard. He sure looked like a magician.

"Please wait until I fix the room up a bit." He said.

He opened his bag, and out of it flew a few circular stairs, a table, a chair, a bed, and a lot more different furniture flew out of the bag and placed themselves gracefully around the room.

"You had a question for me, my dear?" Merlin asked Akyra.

"How did you know?"

"I know a lot more than you think. Now what was your question?"

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Akyra explained her adventure with the Heartless, her glowing eyes and the dream Sora had.

"You wield the Staffblade, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then that makes sense. The wielder of the Staffblade may have powers he or she may not know about yet. You see, the Staffblade is very involved with magic. So the wielder has magical abilities that they don't know of. One of these abilities is to enter dreams and memories and change them at will. You have the power to enter someone's dream, and change it so they dream whatever you want them to dream. You can also enter the memories of one person and make them remember anything you want them to remember. But since you are still weak, you can't control it. This power will only come by instinct, now. When you are stronger, you will able to control it."

"Oh, I understand now. Thank you for your help." Akyra said.

"No problem."

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"Okay, where did Sora and Goofy head to?"

"They told me to give you the message that they're setting the Gummi Ship for our next flight, so meet them in the first District, by the item shop." Jiminy said.

"Gummi Ship? What's that?" Akyra asked.

"It's our vessel!" Donald said, as they walked back to the First District.

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Me: Akyra's getting into so much danger now!! See? I told you this story would get better!

Audience: That wasn't dangerous!!! We want destruction!!!!!

Me: Sorry! No destruction until Hollow Bastion!

Audience: -.-


	7. Alice On Trial

Me: I made this chapter long because I may not be updating for at least three days.

Audience: (crying) WHY???

Me: Because I have to finish My Kingdom Hearts game!! I can't continue the fanfic if I don't get further in my game! Darn, I'm still stuck in Atlantica...

Audience: (cries)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I own Akyra. (hands Akyra a cookie)

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"Hey, Goofy, here they come!" Sora yelled as Donald and Akyra approached them.

"Akyra, get over here, you GOT TO SEE THIS!!!" Sora exclaimed, yanking Akyra towards the Gummi Ship. "Isn't it COOL? It's even built with blocks!!"

"Gummi blocks!" Goofy said.

"Yeah, yeah, gummi blocks, whatever." Sora said. "And this is the inside. It even has air conditioning!! We will never boil in heat again! And four tiny chairs, just for us, and...."

"You mean we're flying in space?" Akyra asked.

"We sure are!" Sora exclaimed, once again.

"YA!!" they both yelled, jumping up and down really fast.

"Goofy, we've got ourselves a bunch of idiots," Donald whispered to him, "ALRIGHT, break it up! Sit down and fasten your seat belts! Sora, FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS!! Akyra, stop bouncing! Put your blades in the back! Akyra, STOP BOUNCING!!! Okay are we ready? Here we go!" he yelled as they hovered off the ground and took off in the sky.

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"Ooh, I've always wanted to fly!" Akyra squealed, still bouncing in her seat from time to time,

"Hey! There are other ships in the sky too?"

"Nah," Donald answered, "those are Heartless ships."

"Heartless attack us in the sky too?"

"Heartless attack you everywhere, trust me."

"How do we get rid of them?"

"With our trusty attacking device," he said, pushing different buttons and watched as the Heartless ships blew up.

"Is that a world up ahead?" she asked as they approached a tiny red checked bulk in the sky.

"Akyra, STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!"

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"Okay, why are we floating?" Sora asked.

Interesting question. They were floating down what seemed like an endless hole.

"These worlds are starting to freak me out." Akyra pointed out, "We end up in a town where strange people we've never met before want to save us. And it's always night time! The poor town has never seen the light of day! And they have a hotel right where the Heartless are most likely to attack you. And know we are in an anonymous world, and we keep falling down some endless tunnel, what else could happen?"

"Well, your story has managed to kill two minutes." Donald said, looking at his watch.

"Hey, I think I see ground!" Goofy said, pointing to the ground.

The four of them landed on the ground softly, and started to look around, alert.

"What is this place called?" Akyra asked.

"Do you really think any of us know?" Donald said sarcastically.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late!"

They whirled around and saw something very odd. A large rabbit wearing clothes and holding a watch in his paws.

"Oh dear, I'm here, I should be there, I'm late, I'm late, I'm LATE!!!" the rabbit screeched, as he ran through a large door.

The four of them were silent for about twenty seconds.

"Correction. These worlds are REALLY starting to freak me out." Akyra pointed out, once again.

"Let's follow him!" Sora said, running after the rabbit, the rest following him.

After going through the large door the rabbit took, they found themselves in a small room, hardly big enough to fit the four of them.

"How did he get so small?" Sora asked as he glanced to the tiny door that the rabbit went through.

"No, you're simply too big." The door answered.

"Hey, it talks! Cool!" Goofy said.

"Where are we?" Akyra moaned.

"Why you're in Wonderland!" The door responded.

"Wonderland? Convenient name! This land is really making me wonder about the things we've been seeing!" She said.

"Forget it, Akyra. Anyway, how did he get so small?" Sora asked the door.

"Try the bottle on the table. Please don't make such a racket, I'm trying to go back to sleep." He finished.

They turned around and noticed two bottles on the table.

"Which one do we drink?" Donald asked.

"I guess we just pick one." Sora said, picking up the blue bottle.

He took a tiny sip, and within two seconds, a cloudy mist appeared around him as he shrank. The moment he shrank fully and landed on the table, a few tiny Heartless appeared on the table and started to advance forward, ready for battle.

"A little help down here?" Sora moaned.

The three remaining drank a sip of the substance, shrank, and defeated the Heartless together.

"Perfect. Heartless in a freaky world. Plus, a new red Heartless that shoots fire at us!" Akyra complained.

"Let's just go and follow the rabbit..." Donald said grumpily.

So the four of them jumped off the table, mysteriously floated to the ground once again, and walked towards the small opening in the wall.

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They had entered some sort of courtyard, with heart shaped hedges. A trial seemed to have been underway. The rabbit they were following was perched on a tiny chair next to the judge's desk. The soldiers stationed around the desk were clearly cards.

"Have you anything to say in your defence?" the very evil looking queen behind the desk asked.

"Of course, I have done absolutely nothing wrong!" the girl at the defendant's post answered, "You may be queen, but that doesn't give you the right to be so....so mean!"

"SILENCE! How dare you defy me?" the queen yelled after her.

"Hmmm. Why would she be on trial?" Akyra asked.

"I don't know, but we should help her out!" Sora said.

"But wouldn't that be muddling?" Goofy asked.

"Meddling!" Donald exclaimed.

"I find the defendant guilty as charged!" The queen announced, "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart...."

"Theft of her heart?" Akyra wondered aloud, "That must've been the Heartless!! And not the girl!"

"Off with her head, soldiers!" the queen shouted.

"Come on, let's go!" Akyra yelled at them.

"Hold it right there!" Sora shouted, running to the middle of the court.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?" The queen screamed at him.

"Excuse me, but we know who the real culprit is!" He said.

"Yeah," Goofy said, "it was the Heartle- he started, but then covered his mouth swiftly.

"Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for!" Sora finished.

"Nonsense, I ruled her guilty, so she must be guilty!" the queen stammered.

"She's only human! She can't steal hearts! It takes a creature to steal hearts!" Akyra said, stepping forward.

"Have you any proof?" The queen asked triumphantly.

"No....But I'm sure we could find some!" Sora exclaimed. "

Fine. Find me proof of Alice's innocence. If you fail as well, it's off with YOUR heads!" she yelled.

At that moment, the card soldiers trapped Alice and locked her up in a cage.

"Let's go talk to her." Donald suggested.

They walked down to her cage, with Akyra in the lead.

"Hi," Akyra said politely, "who are you?"

"I'm Alice."

"Hi Alice. I'm Akyra, and this is Sora, Donald and Goofy."

"Pleasure to meet you, only I wish it were under better conditions."

"Where did you come from?" Sora asked.

"Well, I remember looking down a rabbit hole and falling forward. Then I was brought immediately here, and put on trial for something I didn't do."

"The defendant shall remain silent!!!" the queen yelled at them. The four friends backed away slowly and walked toward a strange looking forest, trying to find evidence.

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Me: Goodbye, friends!!

Audience: It's only for three days...

Akyra: What will happen to me in three days? (is restless)


	8. The Cheshire Cat's Riddles

Me: Well, I updated one last chapter to your content. A treat from me to you.

Audience: Why?

Me: My birthday!!

Audience: Happy Birthday!

Akyra: Happy Birthday!

Disclaimer: I'm sure you know by now that I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only own Akyra.

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They walked through what looked like a huge forest with extremely tall trees and mushrooms bigger than they've ever seen. Looking up, the sky didn't look too normal. It was boxed in.

"Great, just great. Red Heartless, talking doors, big or small, people on trial for things they didn't do, and a square sky with angles. I feel like I'm in a box." Akyra complained, "And what now? A cat dancing on its head!" She said, pointing to the stump.

The three remaining turned their heads and sure enough, a purple cat with dark pink stripes was dancing on its head. It stopped dancing, picked up its head, and put it on its neck before crawling down from the stump to face the others.

"Who are you? And what are you?" Akyra asked horrified.

"Who am I? What am I? Why, I don't know myself." The cat answered.

"Okay, that made no sense." Sora said.

"Nothing makes sense," the cat said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Goofy asked.

"All is upside sideways or downside upways thanks to the shadows!" the cat replied.

"Shadows? You mean Heartless!" Donald exclaimed.

"Are shadows Heartless or are-"

"Alright, buster, enough with the mystery talk! What are you trying to say?" Akyra yelled at him.

The cat grinned with a big ear-to-ear smile and said, "Everything heals but a broken heart. Find the four pieces of evidence and I will reward you for your effort. One is hard to find but easy to figure out."

And with one last grin, he vanished as a couple of Heartless started to appear.

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The Heartless defeated, Akyra ran over to the rest, pointing the top of her Staffblade to them.

"Look," she said, "it must be part of the evidence. It got stuck while I was fighting the Heartless." She said, ripping off an antenna from the weapon.

"Great!" Sora cheered, "What do we have?"

"Some stench in a bottle, some claw marks, and an antenna!" Goofy said.

"We just need one more thing!"

"You three actually believe a riddle cat?" Donald asked.

"Well," Akyra started, "he's the only one who we can actually listen to in this crazy world."

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After a bit more exploring and Heartless fighting, they found the last piece, a photo of the footprints.

"The queen will have to believe us once she sees this evidence!" Sora said cheerfully, as he sealed the bag.

"Excellent!" a familiar voice rang out. The cat was sitting on a tree branch, watching them. "True to my word," he said, "I will reward you. But I'm sure someone who doesn't trust me wouldn't think it's worthwhile." He said, staring at Donald. "But this is for spellcaster's use."

"For me and Akyra?" Donald asked.

"Yes," the cat continued, "put the red Heartless out with cold magic."

He taped Donald and Akyra's heads twice each and blew ice at them.

Before turning to disappear, he looked at Akyra and said, "You are energetic, memory reader, but don't overdo it."

Within a blink of an eye, the cat was gone.

"How did he know I didn't like him?" Donald asked.

"How did he know I can read memories?" Akyra asked.

"How come you never told us you can read memories?" Sora and Goofy both asked her together.

"Umm....oops?" she said meekly, "Fine, I'll tell you on the way there."

So she explained everything Merlin told her, as they approached the courtyard.

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"We've gathered the evidence!" Sora told the queen, holding the bag up in the air.

"Let's see it then! GUARDS! Bring forth my evidence!" The queen stammered. T

he guards took the evidence and placed each one in a separate pink box.

"Hmm...It would be such a waste to look at all of them. You!!" the queen shrieked, pointing at Sora, "Pick a box now!!"

The moment she finished her sentence, the boxes mixed themselves up and lay flat like before.

"After all the trouble of collecting it all?" Sora asked.

"DON'T YOU DEFY ME!!! Choose NOW!"

"Alright, I'll pick......that one!" he said pointing to the one on the far left side.

Hoping he had chosen the right one, he approached it, picked it up, and opened it. A Heartless soldier sprung out of the box and disappeared in an instant.

"What was that?" the queen yelled.

"It's your evidence," Akyra said, "The Heartless did it, not Alice. Now let her go!"

"Heartless? I have no time for this. I don't even care about Alice anymore. GUARDS!!! BRING THEM ALL DOWN!!"

A card ran to the tower in the middle, pulled the lever, and Alice's cage rose to the sky.

"Attack the tower!" Sora yelled as they ran for the tower, prepared for battle.

"Take that!" Donald yelled, blasting the tower with a few blocks of ice.

"Very good, Donald, but now it's my turn!" Akyra shouted at him. "Blizzard!!" she yelled.

A huge block of ice hit the tower, destroying one of the four levers.

"You can't be a better magician than me!" Donald shouted back at her.

"Watch me!"

"Hey guys! A little help here!" Goofy yelled.

He and Sora seemed to be having trouble with the last lever. Donald shot a final fire spell which broke the lever and sent Alice's cage flying to the ground. But as soon as they approached it, they saw that the cage was empty.

"Where did she go?" Donald asked.

"She must have gotten kidnapped while we were fighting!" Sora answered.

"YOU FOOLS!!" the queen screamed at her cards, "Find who's behind this, I DON'T CARE HOW!!!!"

All too suddenly, the cards started searching frantically all over the courtyard.

"Let's go before they notice we're gone..."Akyra whispered to them, as they crept slowly to the Lotus Forest.

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Once in the forest, they found the cat sitting on a rock in the lake.

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers, but doesn't always tell." He said.

"Do you mind telling us where Alice is?" Sora asked in a small voice.

"She's gone! Knowing where she is, that's a different story."

"Do you mind telling us exactly where Alice is?"

"To find the answer the shadows have, turn on the light!" The Cheshire Cat finished, and disappeared.

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Me: Sorry it's pitifully short.

Audience: Who has the next birthday?

Me: Akyra's is in January

Audience: Oh darn...

Akyra: Yay! Whee!


	9. Never Play With Fire

Me: Meh, it's boring writting about boss battles. Apologies if the story gets boring because of the boss battle.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Though I wish I did....

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"Can't that darn cat ever tell us a straight answer without using riddles?" Donald asked. "

Apparently not," Akyra chuckled, "let's go look for this 'light' he told us about"

They ventured through the forest, listening to Donald's complaining.

"Darn cat, we should've never trusted him! We've looked everywhere and no sign of 'light' anywhere!"

"How do you explain that then?" Akyra said, pointing to an opening in the tree, "That wasn't there before."

"Alright, alright, he was right. But I'm telling you! Nothing of our interest will be in the-"

He didn't finish his sentence. Probably because Akyra had grabbed his beak shut and dragged him into the next room.

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The room they had entered was much decorated. Streamers were hung by the hedges and a fancy table with chairs stood in the middle of the room.

"Yep. This world is freaking me out." Akyra said, finally letting go of Donald's beak.

"Hey," Goofy pointed out, "there's a note."

He leaped on the table, took the note and read it. "It says: Welcome to the unbirthday party. Please sit down and receive your present."

"Unbirthday party? Convenient," Sora said, "let's sit!" T

hey scrambled around to find seats and sat down on them. A box appeared in the middle of the table, wrapped like a present. Sora leaped up, and was prepared to go open it, but before he had the chance, the box opened itself, and potions and ethers were sent flying around the table.

"Yay!" Goofy cried out, "Potions and ethers!"

They ran to the middle of the table and helped themselves to potions and ethers.

"Well," Donald started, "where are the 'lights'? I don't see them!"

"Oh, Donald," Akyra muttered under her breath as she dragged him once again in the next room.

The next room was the bizarre room. Well, they were standing on the wall of the bizarre room. But the wall felt like the floor.

"No wonder they call it a bizarre room!" Akyra said.

In front of them sat two tables, each with an unlit lamp.

"Remember to turn on the lights to find the shadows!" the Cheshire Cat said.

Surprised, the four fighters looked up on the table, and saw the Cheshire Cat sitting next to the lamp.

"Memory reader," he said pointing to Akyra, "remember what I said!" He finished, and then disappeared.

"I am not overdoing it!!" Akyra shouted back.

"Come on!" Sora interrupted, "Let's turn on some lights!"

"Who will turn them on?" Goofy asked.

"I will!" Donald and Akyra said together.

"I'm sorry, Donald, I thought you said you will."

"I did and I will."

"Not if I have something to say about it!"

"Fire!" Donald shouted. The lamp lit up instantly. "Ha! Let's see you outsmart me now, Akyra!"

"It's still too dim, you should make it brighter!" The Cheshire Cat said, and then disappeared once again.

Donald turned to the next lamp, pointing his staff, but saw that the lamp was already lit.

"Ha! Let's see YOU outsmart me, Donald!" Akyra said triumphantly.

"Excellent! The shadows will be here soon! But the shadows like this room right-side-up." The Cheshire Cat said, and then disappeared.

"This room IS right-side-up!" Donald yelled after him.

"I think he means there Donald." Akyra told him, pointing to the ceiling.

On the ceiling were the table with the two bottles and the talking door from moments before.

"Well, I guess we have to be there," Sora said, "let's go back to the courtyard and go back where we came from."

They jumped off the table, approached a large door and flipped the lock, thus opening the door that led to the courtyard. Before they had the chance to go through the door, a few of the same red Heartless attacked them.

"What are these things?" Akyra screeched, whacking a few of them at a time.

These Heartless were red, tiny, and they floated through the air in no particular order before shooting a ball of fire from time to time.

"I know!" Jiminy said while peeking out of Akyra's pocket, "I'll call these Heartless Red.....um...Red Nocturne! They float through the air and attack with fire, but also absorb fire! I'll have to write this down." He finished while scribbling in his journal.

When the Heartless were finally defeated, the four fighters walked through the door and, sure enough, they ended up in the queen's courtyard. They were about to enter the bizarre room, until Sora stopped them in their tracks.

"Guys? I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't we stock up on potions and ethers, just in case?"

"Alright then!" Goofy said, as the rest of them stocked up on anything they needed. As usual, Donald and Akyra fought over the last ether.

"Why should you have it?" Donald screamed at her.

"Because I can cast a better fire than you!!" She yelled back at him.

"Yeah, but I can cast a better blizzard than you!!"

"If you can't share an ether, then I'll take it!" Sora yelled at them, while snatching the ether from their hands, "Now let's go!"

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They entered the bizarre room, and found the Cheshire Cat sitting on the table, as usual.

"Excellent! You made it! The shadows will be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If you're not prepared, too bad!" The Cheshire Cat said, and then vanished again.

"Not prepared? Too bad? Why you little...." Donald yelled after him.

"Guys?" Akyra interrupted with a shaky voice, "Move it!!!" She pushed them aside.

From the ceiling fell a huge, flexible thing that looked as if it was made out of folded paper. It held two flaming sticks, and a Heartless symbol was engraved on its paper body. It started juggling its flaming sticks and advanced forward, towards them.

"RUN!" Sora ordered. They all ran in four different directions, trying to hit the monster at least once.

"It's too tall! We can't attack it!" Donald yelled.

"Try to make it kneel down!" Akyra ordered. She noticed that the table and chair in the middle of the room sank under the floor, and then reappeared at its normal size, giving her an idea. She ran to the middle of the room, stood on top of the table and waited until it rose out of the ground. Once it rose back to its normal size, she was in level with the creature's head.

"Hasn't your mom ever taught you not to play with fire!?!" She yelled. A ball of flame shot out of her Staffblade and hit the creature squarely in the head. It kneeled down, giving the rest of them the opportunity to attack. All too soon, the Heartless rose back up, and shot a ball of fire at Akyra, knocking her off the table.

In the other corner, Donald aimed carefully at the monster's head, prepared to shoot a spell. But the Heartless shot a huge ball of fire in Donald's direction, not giving him time to aim.

"Donald! Get out of the way!" Akyra yelled. She grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the way as the fire ball hit the floor.

"Thanks Akyra." Donald quacked.

Behind the Heartless, Sora took aim and fired a blizzard spell. Receiving the spell, the Heartless crashed to the floor, and a blue heart hovered above it, before soaring to the ceiling and disappeared.

"How many more of these bosses do we have to defeat?" Sora asked while catching his breath.

"That was splendid!" The Cheshire Cat said, sitting on the table,

"Don't try looking for Alice here. She's with the shadows!" He grinned one last time, and vanished, again.

"Oh, great..." Sora sighed.

"Donald, thanks for using an ether on me, before." Akyra said nervously.

"Well, thanks for saving me from the fire." Donald said.

There was a moment of silence that lasted about 15 seconds.

"Look, I'm sorry!" They both said together.

"Friends?" Akyra asked.

"Friends!" Donald answered.

So they both hugged each other and promised to share ethers from then on. Next to them, the doorknob yawned.

"What a racket!" he yawned. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" He yawned again, and the four of them could see a keyhole in his mouth. Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade started to act up. A light shot from the end of it and made its way to the keyhole. There was a locking sound as the doorknob closed its mouth and fell asleep. A small piece fell from the door.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"It sounded like you locked something." Akyra answered, picking up the small item that fell from the door,

"What's this?"

"That's a Gummi Piece!" Goofy said, taking the item from her hand, "We should hold on to it."

"Well," Sora said to Akyra, "it doesn't look like our friends are here."

"It doesn't look like our king is here, either." Goofy said.

"Then we have no business here anymore," Donald said, "let's get back to the Gummi Ship."

They climbed on the table, took a sip from the substance in the bottle, grew bigger, and walked toward the Gummi Ship.

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"Hey! Who wants to hear a few Goofy jokes while we're riding back to Traverse Town?" Goofy asked excitedly.

"Goofy, we have to admit your jokes are really corny." Donald answered.

"For once, I agree with Donald." Sora said, sinking into his chair.

"I DO!!!" Akyra yelled, raising her hand.

So they rode back to Traverse Town, the Gummi Ship filled with the sound of Goofy's corny jokes and Akyra's laughter.

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Audience: How boring was that?

Me: Well, we can only tell by the reviews.

Akyra: I thought I was pretty good! Did you see me shoot that fire spell? Oh boy, that was great.

Me: Oh great, she's bragging again....


	10. We ARE Heroes!

Me: Sorry it took so long to update. I was pretty busy. So I wrote you a nice long chapter to catch up on all your reading.

Everyone: YAY!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. And I guess I don't own the corny 'man from Peru' Goofy joke either.

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They arrived safely in Traverse Town. And after a bit of shopping for items and accessories, they were ready for their next adventure. Unfortunately, that next adventure would have to wait till morning, since they all felt sleepy and drowned. Akyra sat on her bed, waiting for Jiminy to finish with his journal.

"We defeated......Trickmaster....and....locked...the.....world." He said finally, while closing his journal and laying it aside.

"Hey Jiminy," Akyra asked, "will you ever let me read your journal?"

"Yeah, but not yet," he stammered, "maybe when it's done."

"Alright, good night Jiminy!"

The moment she closed her lamp, Sora's voice rang through the air.

"Good night, Akyra! Good night Goofy! Good night Donald!" he yelled.

"Good night Sora! Good night Donald! Good night Goofy!" Akyra answered back.

"Good night Sora! Good night Akyra! Good night Dona-"

"JUST GO TO SLEEP!!!!" Donald screeched.

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They woke up with ease the next morning, stocked up and climbed into the Gummi Ship, ready for their next ride. 

"More Goofy jokes, Akyra?" Goofy asked excitedly.

"You bet!" she squealed.

"There once was a man from Peru, who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He woke with a fright, in the middle of the night, to find out that his dream had come true!" Goofy said.

She howled with laughter, and fell out of her seat.

"How could you find that funny?" Donald asked.

"Hey look!" Sora yelled, pointing up ahead, "It's a new world!"

Indeed it was. Up ahead, a large golden temple with golden columns was floating in midair. Two soldier statues sat by the temple's side. They disembarked, and walked to the middle of the field. A set of stairs lay in front of them. Around the stairs, little silver blocks were lit and burning brightly.

"Well, this looks pretty normal. Unlike Wonderland." Akyra shuddered.

"Akyra, you're very sweet. Just quit the sarcasm." Sora told her.

Miffed, she turned around and entered the lobby in front of them angrily.

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The room they had entered was smaller than the room before. It was pretty empty except for a very short goat man? He stood in the corner and seemed very preoccupied with a poster he had been reading. 

"It's about time you got here! Move the pedestal over there will ya? I gotta put this poster up." He said without even looking at them.

Sora tried pushing the pedestal, but didn't even make it budge. The rest of them helped him, but it was too heavy.

"This thing is way too heavy!" Sora said.

"Too heavy?" He said angrily. He turned around and seemed pretty surprised when he saw Sora and the rest standing in front of him.

"Oh sorry about that. I thought you were Herc. Why does this keep happening? Now kids, when you pass by Wonderland, go forward and don't turn. Then, you'll end up in Traverse Town, okay?" he said.

"You think we're lost?" Sora asked angrily.

"Sure. It's been happening a lot lately. People looking for Traverse Town take a wrong turn and end up here instead. Now, move along, kids!" He said.

"We are not lost!" Donald said, "We visit every world!"

"Well, skip this one! This is the famous Olympus Coliseum! Heroes ONLY!!"

"We are heroes!" Donald quacked angrily.

"Yeah," Goofy said, putting his hand on Sora, "Sora's a real hero. He was chosen by the Keyblade!"

"And I was chosen by the Staffblade!" Akyra continued, "And if it weren't for Donald and Goofy, we'd be dead by now, and the Heartless will have invaded your world as well!"

"Heroes? HA!! You children wouldn't even survive the barrel challenge! Let alone, the tournament!" the goat laughed at them.

"Bring it on!" Sora yelled at him.

"Smash 20 barrels in 45 seconds and I'll take back all the nasty things I said." The goat said. "By the way, the name's Philocetes."

"Philawtieties?" Akyra asked.

"Just call me Phil."

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He led them in a huge arena, where an obstacle course with 20 barrels was set up.

"Okay kid, I'll time you." Phil said.

"I'm not a kid!! The name's Sora!"

"Sora, whatever, GO!!"

Sora ran to the middle of the arena, and destroyed all the barrels in a matter of seconds.

"Pretty good!" Phil said, "Looks like you're ready for the expert course!"

The moment Phil pronounced those words, the obstacle course reshaped itself as 25 barrels appeared.

"1 minute, 25 barrels. Ready?"

"Can't I have a break?" Sora gasped, still catching his breath.

"A real hero doesn't need a break! GO!!"

Sora got back up, and attacked the rest of the barrels. He had finished with only 2 seconds to spare.

"Not bad, Sora!" Phil said happily as they re-entered the lobby.

"Well I guess we're ready for the games!" Akyra and Goofy cheered together.

"Sorry to break up your moment of happiness, but you ain't going to the games." Phil said.

"Huh? Why not?" Donald quacked.

"You're still not heroes!" Phil said angrily, "But, to show that there are no hard feelings, I'll give you this spell."

He tapped each of them twice on the head and clapped his hands as hard as he could.

"Still, why can't we enter the games?" Akyra asked.

"Two reasons. One: You guys ain't heroes! Two: You can't get in without a pass anyway! It was nice meeting you, but there's no way you're getting into the games! Now shoo!"

He hustled them out of the lobby, and slammed the door behind him.

"Looks like we have no more business here..." Donald said sadly.

"Stubborn old goat, don't ya think?" a voice said.

They looked to their side and there stood a man with black robes and blue fire as hair. His skin was grey and he didn't look too nice.

"Who are you?" Sora asked him.

"Does it matter?" the man said, "I understand Phil gave you a hard time with the entire 'hero' thing. Well get a load of this!"

An entry pass appeared in his hand almost instantly.

"It's all yours kid," he finished while giving it to Sora.

"A pass? Thanks!" Sora said cheerfully. "No need!" the man said as he walked away.

"Should we really trust him?" Donald asked.

"Why not?" Akyra answered, "This should be good enough for Phil!"

-------------------------------------------------------------

Once back in the lobby, they showed Phil their entry pass. 

"Where did you get this!?!" Phil raged.

"Who cares? Now we can enter the games!" Sora cheered.

"Alright, fine. Just remember these simple rules: These are the preliminaries, so you can't forfeit at any time. You must fight till the end. You may use any kind of magic. And finally, fight with pride. Don't back down if the others are standing up to you. Be careful, kids!"  
  
He led them in the arena. It didn't seem to have the obstacle course anymore. On the contrary, it was empty.

"Get ready!" Phil yelled at them.

The arena was suddenly filled with Heartless.

"Let's get them!" Sora ordered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

They fought Heartless after Heartless, level after level until the Heartless had finally stopped appearing. The four fighters collapsed on the ground, tired and thirsty. "Hey, that was great!" Phil said, running up to them. 

"Looks like you deserve a break. Besides, I want you well and ready for your next opponent."

"You say it like our next opponent is deadly." Donald said sarcastically.

"He is, trust me..." Phil said in a worried voice.

--------------------------------------------------------------

After a 10 minute break, they re-entered the same empty arena and waited for their next opponent.

"Now the thing about Cloud is he likes attacking with deadly blows, so I would want to be out of his way, if I were you." Phil said with confidence, "Good luck!"

They readied themselves for battle when a tall figure walked across the arena. He had spiky blonde hair, and a huge red cape covered almost his entire body. He didn't look like he was prepared to lose.

"Ready?" Sora asked meekly.

Cloud approached them, his long black sword glowing an eerie shade of green. The four of them ran off in different directions, trying to confuse him. But Cloud only seemed to be focused on Sora. He ran after Sora, always attacking without stopping. None of them seemed to have a chance to even get close to Cloud.

"Well, Donald, this looks like a great time to test out our spell!" Akyra yelled across the arena.

Donald didn't answer. He and Goofy were both lying on the floor, knocked out. Watching them, her shock turned into anger, and her anger pointed towards Cloud. She lifted her Staffblade into the air and tried as hard as she can to cast her new spell. Suddenly, two clouds hit each other in the sky and sent a mighty lightning blow towards Cloud. He kneeled back. Seizing his chance, Sora started attacking Cloud with everything he had left. Cloud quickly got up and attacked Sora squarely on the head. Sora fell to his knees, and fell to the floor, knocked out as well. Cloud advanced quickly towards Akyra, and without giving her a chance to cast her spell. His sword started glowing white as he sent a huge white blow in Akyra's direction. Trying to get up, she felt the last of her strength leave her, as she fainted.

"Cloud, take it easy!! They're not even heroes yet!" Phil yelled as he ran across the arena. He took out his extra potions, and started healing the four of them.

"It's okay, kids. Cloud is pretty tough." Phil said.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Once healed, they made their way to the lobby. Suddenly, a threatening growl stopped them dead in their tracks. 

"That doesn't sound too good..." Phil said horrified.

They turned around and gasped. A huge black three-headed dog stood in front of them. It walked forward and slammed Cloud out of its way. Before it could approach them even more, a man wearing a gladiator suit and a blue cape hopped out of the lobby and stopped the dog from approaching them.

"Herc! You came!" Phil yelled in delight.

"Phil! Get them out of here!" Hercules shrieked, still trying to hold off the dog.

Phil pushed the four of them back in the lobby, leaving Hercules with the dog.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

They ran into the lobby, still stunned by what they saw. 

"Uh...Phil? We have a few questions!" Donald quacked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Phil said angrily, still catching his breath.

"Number one: Who is the dog?" Donald continued.

"He's Cerberus. The guardian of the Underworld."

"Great! Number two: Who was that guy defending us?"

"Hercules. My best student. Nobody's a better hero than him!"

"So if he's a real hero, then he'll defeat Cerberus in a few seconds, right?" Akyra asked.

"Sure he will! He's defeated him before! Just wait! He'll come!" Phil said happily. The four of them stared at the door, waiting for Hercules to come. But he never came.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minutes, Phil was getting worried. 

"Where is he? I hope he's okay." Phil said nervously, pacing back and forth.

"What if he's in trouble?" Akyra said finally.

"No, Akyra, we're not helping him! I'm sure he's fine! Heh, heh...Right?" Sora said nervously.

"What if he isn't?" Goofy said.

"What if he needs help?" Donald said as well.

"Okay fine, we'll help Hercules!" Sora said.

"WHAT?!?" Phil shrieked, "You ain't going in there! You're not even heroes yet!"

"Well, this is our time to prove ourselves!" Goofy said triumphly.

"Let's go!" Sora ordered as they made their way to the arena.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

They entered the arena just in time. Cerberus was about to finish off Hercules until it saw four new opponents in its wake. It forgot about Hercules and stomped over to the four fighters. It growled and leaned down to them, prepared to attack. 

"Same strategy?" Akyra asked.

"Same strategy." Sora answered.

They all ran off in different directions, thus trying to confuse the dog. Cerberus didn't seem to care. He just stomped around and bit whoever was closer.

"Hey, Donald! Watch this! Sit, doggy!!" Akyra yelled.

She raised her Staffblade into the air and summoned a thunder spell. Three bolts of lightning fell from the sky and hit the dog once in each head. The dog kneeled down and whimpered as Sora attacked it normally. After a bit more use of this strategy, the dog finally collapsed on the floor, defeated.

"Haha! Sit doggy!" Donald cheered.

"YOU DID IT!!!" Phil screeched, running out on the arena and jumping on them.

"That was great, that was..." he sobbed, "Come on! Let's get you guys fixed up!"

He hustled them into the lobby, where Hercules was sitting patiently.

"Hi," he said, getting up, "I'm Hercules."

"Yeah, we already know that." Goofy said.

"I got something for you kids," Phil said as he scurried down the room and picked up the poster he was examining before.

"You deserve it. I apologize for the nasty things I said."

"Ah, don't worry. It's okay." Sora said politely. Phil unrolled the poster and started reading it aloud with a weird tone of voice.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"To conclude, I dub thee Sora, Donald, Goofy, Akyra, junior heroes!" He finished, while handing a certificate to Sora. 

"Junior heroes? Why?" Donald asked.

"Well," Hercules started, "defeating a three-headed dog doesn't really prove you being a hero yet. You're missing something very important that every hero needs. But you're on your way! Keep going! You can prove yourselves in the games!"

"Alright then. Thanks for the advice. Well, looks like we don't have anymore business here. But we'll be back for the games!" Sora said happily.

"Bye!" the rest of them chanted.

Before they had a chance to exit the lobby, Phil stopped them, a flower in his hand.

"Something for you!" he said, handing the flower to Akyra.

"Um...thanks, Phil" she said awkwardly.

"No problem. Come back soon!" Phil finished. They walked out of the lobby and onto the field they were on earlier. Sora examined the flower Phil had given Akyra.

"Yup, it's a daffodil." He concluded. The three boys turned to face Akyra, waiting for her sarcastic remark. But it never came.

"Why are you all staring at me?" she asked.

"We're waiting for your sarcastic remark." Goofy said.

"Well, if you remember clearly, Sora said he hated them!" she screeched, "So why should I keep annoying you with sarcastic remarks that you don't find funny!?"

Donald and Goofy glared at Sora, who was now turning red.

"I guess I have some apologizing to do."

"Ya think?" Donald said angrily.

After a few awkward minutes of silence, Sora finally apologized.

"I'm sorry, Akyra," he confessed, "I probably told you to stop because I was a little mad before. I didn't mean to take out my anger on you. Will you forgive me?"

"Apology accepted. I just don't understand why you were mad before." She said.

"I guess it was because we keep searching everywhere, but we never find anything close to Kairi or Riku."

"We'll find them, trust me! As long as we all stand together, we'll be fine." She finished.

Sora smiled and hugged her, apologizing again.

"Hey guys look!" Goofy said pointing up ahead.

On the stairs sat Cloud, a sad look on his face. The four of them ran to him, with Sora in the lead. Instead of a hello, he went straight for the questions.

"Why did you go with the darkness?"

"I'm looking for someone. He promised to help me. But instead, he broke his promise and left me in the darkness. I'm still searching for my light." Cloud said in a shadowy voice.

"I'm searching too..." Sora said sadly.

"For your light?"

Sora nodded. "You'll find it," he said triumphly, "as long as you stick to your heart, you'll find the light."

Cloud stood up and smiled.

"I have no need for this. Good luck finding your light."

He placed something in Sora's hand and walked away.

"We'll have a rematch sometime? No darkness involved! At all!"

Cloud turned and smiled as he waved goodbye to them.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Sora said happily.

He opened his hand and gazed at what Cloud had given him. It was a glowing yellow orb that hovered in Sora's hand.

"What's this?" he asked, still gazing at the orb.

"It's an Ability!" Akyra said excitedly.

"How do you know about that?" Donald said angrily.

"I don't know. I just knew. It came by instinct!"

"One of the many wonders of the Staffblade..." Goofy concluded, "Do you know how to equip it?"

"Well, maybe that too will come by instinct!" she said happily.

And sure enough, a little voice inside her head was controlling her actions. She took the yellow orb and let it hover alone in the air. Suddenly, the orb started growing bigger. By instinct of course, Akyra raised her Staffblade so that the heart at the tip was touching the orb. The orb then took a strange charging shape, and then flew over to Sora until finally circling around him then disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sora blinked.

"So, do you feel any different?" Goofy asked.

"No, not really." "You'll be able to test out your ability in the next world. Now let's get back to the Gummi ship!" Donald said finally.

They embarked on the Gummi ship and were flying to Traverse Town, only eager to go on their next adventure.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me: I hope you enjoyed that! Yay! I'm finally at Deep Jungle! This should be interesting...

Audience: Gorillas are interesting?

Me: No. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve!

Audience: Oh great! We love surprises!

Me: There's not much of a surprise in Deep Jungle. But there is in Halloween Town!

Audience: Aw....

Please R&R!!


	11. Welcome To The Jungle

Me: We're in Deep Jungle! Guess what that means?

Everyone: What?

Me: It means that after this, I have to write a bit about Traverse Town, then a little more for Agrabah, then Monstro, then Atlantica. Then, I will finally be in Halloween Town!

Everyone: What's so great about Halloween Town?

Me: Nothing! Then after Halloween Town, I have to write a bit about Neverland, then I'll be in Hollow Bastion!

Everyone: What's so great about Hollow Bastion?

Me: I don't know. I just want to be there.

Everyone: 0.o

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts!!!!!! WHY DO I HAVE TO KEEP SAYING IT??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ooh! Can I drive?!!" Sora shouted, while jumping in his seat.

"NO WAY! You drive recklessly! You might kill us all!" Donald scolded.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" He sat in his seat impatiently, waiting to arrive to the next world.

"Who wants to hear Goofy jokes?" Goofy asked.

"A new world!" Donald said almost instantly.

"Good timing..." Sora muttered under his breath.

Up ahead, a vast jungle with a tiny waterfall was floating in the dark red sky.

"Wow. I think I like this place already!" Akyra said excitedly.

"We're not landing there! The King would never be in a horrid place like that!" Donald screeched, "We're moving on to the next one!"

"What if Kairi and Riku are there!?!"

"Well, that is very nice for them. But we're still not landing!"

"Just LAND!!" Sora shouted.

He climbed from the back seat to the front, trying to stop Donald from going on forward.

"Sora, get off me!! No that was my foot!! DON'T PRESS THAT BUTTON!!"

Too late. The Gummi ship was sent flying forward at lightning speed. They all shrieked in terror as the ship finally crashed into the jungle.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Sora opened his eyes lazily and sat up.

"What happened?" he asked himself as he started to stand up.

Looking around, he saw that he was in a very dusty tree house which looked deserted.

"Hello?" he said aloud.

Something answered. Though it didn't sound like a human's voice. It sounded like a growl. A very offended growl. He whirled around only to see a huge leopard flying in his direction. The leopard landed on him, knocking him backwards and knocking the Keyblade out of his hand. It kept a paw on Sora, so he couldn't escape. It was about to finish him off until suddenly, a man with long brown hair collided into the leopard, thus freeing Sora. Seizing his chance, he skidded towards his Keyblade, and was ready for combat. He fought off the leopard with the man and watched as it leapt away in fear.

"Thanks for saving me! By the way who are you?" Sora asked the man.

The man stared weirdly at Sora, as though not understanding a single word he had just said.

"Okay then...Let's try something else. Me, (he pointed to himself) Sora! You....?"

"Sora."

"No, I'm Sora. You?"

"You, Sora. Me ...Tarzan."

"Tarzan? Nice name. Can...you...help...me?"

Tarzan nodded his head.

"Great! Have you seen my friends? Girl, long pink hair, heart weapon?"

Tarzan stared at him again.

"How about a duck with-......You know what? Forget the duck. A boy with long silver hair, blue pants. A girl with short red hair, purple skirt?"

Tarzan started muttering some weird sounds in a language Sora has never heard of.

"Excuse me?" Sora said.

Tarzan still said the same thing.

"I don't understand."

"No, understand. Tarzan find help for Sora."

With that, he jumped out of the tree house and onto a net underneath it.

"Hey, wait up!" Sora shouted. So he jumped off the tree house and followed Tarzan.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Donald and Goofy were sitting back to back on a huge boulder in the middle of a clearing surrounded by thick bamboo sticks.

"Where are we? I wonder if Sora and Akyra made it here." Goofy said sadly.

"Bah, who needs them? If we have to, we'll find the king on our own." Donald said grumpily.

"But don't we have to follow the Keyblade?"

"If the Keyblade bearer is only looking for his friends, I'm sure we don't have to follow him."

A gun shot startled them. From a narrow muddy road up ahead, they saw a small gorilla running frantically towards them, before turning and jumping into the bamboo sticks. It was then followed by a man dressed in a yellow military suit holding a gun.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"AAAAA!! AA AA AA!!!!" Akyra fell straight down, screaming at the top of her lungs. Frantic thoughts raced through head, making her more paranoid by the second. Looking down, the ground started to clear, and the surroundings came into focus. She shut her eyes, not daring to see what sort of fate awaited her. But instead of crashing into the ground, she fell into a lake with a splash. Gasping for air, she swam to the top and mounted onto shore. She got up and looked around, still shocked by her horrific moment of terror. Around her, she saw that she was in a very small lagoon, inhabited by three pink hippos.

"Pink hippos? How weird. Oh well, at least I'm still alive." She thought out loud.

She hopped onto the hippos backs until she was in front of a tunnel she noticed earlier. She went through the curious tunnel, hoping she would find her friends. She ended up in a huge campsite. A pile of boxes were on her left and a table with scientific equipment was on her right. She walked forward, still checking out the new place she was in. While trying to dry her wet hair, she noticed a tent right in front of her. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to check out the tent as well. As she entered the tent, a young woman with long brown hair and a long red skirt was fixing the lens on what looked like a photo projector.

"Hello?" Akyra asked.

The woman looked up in surprise and then got up.

"Hello! Who might you be?"

"I'm Akyra."

"Pleasure. I am Jane. Um, where did you come from?"

"Rather long story..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought you were one of Tarzan's friends."

"Who's Tarzan?"

"He is a man who was raised by the gorillas. My father and I are here to study them. So is Mr. Clayton. What are you doing here?"

"As I said before, it is a pretty long story, but for now I'm just looking for my friends."

"I'll help you find them. What do they look like?"

"Well, there is one boy with brown hair that looks like it's flying everywhere, a duck wearing a blue hat and a very tall dog."

"Alright, I'll tell you if I see any of them."

"Thanks..." Akyra said sadly as she walked out of the tent.

"Oh, wait Akyra!" Jane shouted after her, "You're all wet! Would you like a towel for your hair?"

"Thanks! I'd appreciate it." She took the towel Jane handed to her and started to dry her hair.

"If I'm not being too nosy, how did you get so wet?" Jane asked curiously.

"I sort of fell in a lagoon full of hippos." Akyra answered. Jane chuckled and helped her with her hair. At that very moment, a man with long brown hair and walking on his hands and feet entered the tent.

"Jane! Sora....help..." the man grunted.

"Sora?" Akyra thought. The man walked in followed by, sure enough, Sora.

"Akyra!" Sora yelled at the sight of her, "I'd hug you but you're all wet!"

"So I've heard. I'm so glad you're okay!" Akyra said in delight.

"Is this one of your friends?" Jane asked. "Yeah. He's the one with the hair flying everywhere."

"Hey!" Sora said. At that same moment, a man holding a rifle entered the tent followed by Donald and Goofy.

"Sora! Akyra! You're both okay!" Goofy yelled in delight. He ran forward and hugged them both, "Hey, Akyra, you're all wet!"

"Stop telling me!" she screeched.

"Well," Donald said evilly, "it's a good thing she's okay."

"What about Sora?" Goofy asked.

"Sora? Pfft! I couldn't care less!"

Sora and Donald stared at each other for a moment before turning around angrily.

"Great! We are not all happy to see each other, I guess..." Goofy said meekly.

"Well, I'll forget I just saw that. Anyways, please make yourselves at home!" Jane said merrily.

"Um, Jane? How can you tell what Tarzan is telling you?" Sora asked her. "

It's pretty simple. We just show him slides until a word he knows matches the slide shown."

"Really? Because he said something before that I didn't quite get."

"Then we can show him some of the slides we have. Will you be so kind and get six of the slides around the campsite. They should be easy to find."

"Sure! Why not?" Akyra said happily. So the four of them exited the camp, searching for slides.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, Donald. Looks like you'll have to suffer looking for slides with me!" Sora said angrily.

"I won't suffer! I'd stay anyway!" Donald quacked.

"Are you sure you can survive another day with me?"

"I'll have to! The King might be here. Just look at what we found before!" He held out a small, colorful block which looked like the one they found in Wonderland. "It's a Gummi block. Which means our king is here!"

"Fine we'll stay together! For now!" Sora shouted, as they searched for slides.

Jiminy popped out of Akyra's pocket and hopped on her shoulder. "You think they'll make up?" He asked.

"Jiminy. I know they will..." She said surely.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Me: Another chappie finished. I feel like one of those entrepeneurs!

Audience: Um, goddess? Entrepeneurs sell stuff at a higher price than what they bought the stuff for.

Me: I know. But when they do sell something they feel great that they suckered someone. I feel great for writing this chapter!

Audience: O.o


	12. Clayton and the Invisible Heartless

Me: Yay! I have finally updated after a week!

Audience: Yay!

Me: Stop cheering and start reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Don't you know already?

* * *

They hopped around the campsite searching for the six slides Jane had mentioned earlier.

"Found it!" Donald shouted to them, a square disk in his hand.

"That makes six! Let's go see Jane now!" Goofy said happily.

They entered the tent and handed the slides to Jane. She took them and slipped them into the projector. Almost suddenly, a picture appeared on the tent's side. It showed a picture of a sailboat.

"Is that what you were saying, Tarzan?" Jane asked him. Tarzan shook his head.

"Alright, let's try the next one."

She slipped the next slide into the projector, and then appeared a huge dark castle.

"Hmm...It looks familiar." Sora thought.

"What about this?" Jane asked him again. Again, Tarzan shook his head. They went through the remaining four slides, and still Tarzan didn't recognize any of them.

"Well, that wasted our time!" Donald said angrily.

"You're such a sore-head, Donald! You only care about yourself!" Sora yelled back.

"If I only cared about myself, I wouldn't be following you now!"

"You're only following me because your King told you to!"

"SHUT UP!!" Akyra shrieked as loud as she could, "I'm sick and tired of listening to you argue!!"

"You're proving that you two only care about yourselves!!" Goofy said angrily, "You're making me and Akyra suffer for your foolishness!! So I suggest you MAKE UP NOW!!!"

Sora and Donald stared at them for a moment.

"Fine, I won't argue with you, just for the sake of my friends!" Sora said.

"Fine with me!" Donald finished.

"Well, we haven't seen any slides that match what Tarzan said about your friends." Jane said, changing the subject.

"I have an idea. Maybe they are with the gorillas! Oh wait! Oops, I forgot, Tarzan won't bring us to them!" Clayton said evilly.

"Mr. Clayton! Tarzan would never-"

"Then take us to them! Take us to the Go-ri-llas, Tarzan!"

Everyone stared at Tarzan to find out his verdict. Finally, Tarzan nodded his head.

"Are you sure?" Jane asked him nervously. Tarzan nodded again and made his way to the tent's exit.

"Excellent! I'll come too! You four should stay here, since gorillas are offended by too many strangers." Clayton told the four fighters.

With that, they left the tent, leaving four suspicious friends behind. Without warning, Akyra exited the tent and went after Clayton and Tarzan.

"Akyra! What are you doing?!" Sora asked her.

"I don't trust that Clayton. I'm going to follow them."

* * *

She crept past the pile of boxes in front of the tent and crawled slowly towards the tunnel that led to the lagoon she fell in. The three boys stared at her, and then decided to follow her as well.

Tarzan had led them to the very dusty tree house Sora had landed in earlier. Except this time, on the opposite side of the tree house sat a large gorilla. A smaller female gorilla sat by its side as well. The four friends turned to the side so Clayton wouldn't see them. But instead of hearing Tarzan speak to the gorilla like they expected, they heard a gun shot ring through the air. The four of them got up frantically and ran inside the tree house at the sound of it. There they saw Clayton aiming his gun at one of the gorillas. He was about to pull the trigger again.

"Stop! Blizzard!!!" Sora yelled. Clayton whirled around and received the ice spell straight in the face. He fell to the floor and yelled in pain.

"Kerchak! Please! No..." Tarzan said to the gorillas.

The large gorilla glared angrily at Tarzan before turning and walking away. Clayton finally got up and approached Sora.

"Why did you do that!?!"

"You were about to hurt the gorillas! I couldn't let that happen!!" He cried.

"No, see...uh...Ah, yes! A snake slithered right next to it! I saved the poor gorilla! I wasn't trying to kill it!" he stammered.

"Liar!" Sora yelled back, "Let's see what Jane has to say about this!"

* * *

"Mr. Clayton!!!! How many times must I tell you! We're studying the gorillas, not hunting them!!" Jane screeched.

"Ms. Porter, I've told you that-"

"I don't believe you!! Ever since day 1 you've wanted to hunt the gorillas!! You are to stay here for the rest of the expedition! And never go near the gorillas!!" she finally finished.

Looking stunned and upset, Clayton marched out of the tent.

"Gwarsh, you sure showed him!" Goofy said fascinated. Suddenly, another gun shot rang through the air.

"Clayton!" Jane bellowed. At that same moment, Sora and the rest ran out of the tent. In front of them stood a tiny red flower. It was closed.

"He shot at a flower?" Donald asked suspiciously.

"Wait a second Donald. There's a note on top of it." Akyra said, as she began to read, "When the flowers glow black, Heartless are near. Help me bloom. Try magic. Very stubborn flower, eh?"

"Maybe it needs a little warmth!" Donald said excitedly. He shot a fire spell and watched as the flower opened. Once opened, it turned from red to black. Then out in the distance, a couple of monkey shaped Heartless appeared.

"I guess the flower was right. Attack!" she ordered.

* * *

They defeated the Heartless with ease. But after the ground was cleared, a small gorilla walked up to them.

"Aren't they supposed to be scared of us?" Goofy whispered.

"Maybe not..." Donald answered.

The gorilla approached Sora and placed a tiny Gummi block in his hand.

"Thanks?" Sora hesitated.

As though it didn't hear anything, the gorilla walked away towards the thicket.

"Let's follow it!" Sora said.

* * *

They ran into the bamboo thicket, but were stopped in their tracks by even more Heartless. Raising their weapons, they attacked the Heartless and defeated them in a matter of seconds. Again, the same small gorilla placed yet another Gummi block into Sora's hands.

"Cool! Free Gummi blocks!" Goofy said happily. As soon as Sora placed the Gummi into his pocket, a high pitched scream came from the campsite.

"Jane's in trouble!" Akyra yelled. They all ran back the other way, towards the campsite.

* * *

They entered the camp only to find out that Jane has disappeared.

"I bet it's Clayton!" Akyra said menacingly. Just then, Tarzan entered the tent as well.

"Jane...trouble...." Tarzan grunted.

"Do you know where Jane is?" Sora asked excitedly. "Near...Jane....near...."

"Yes? YES? Where's Jane!?!"

"Tree house..." Tarzan finally finished.

"Good work Tarzan!" Sora said proudly, "Alright gang! Let's go!"

They ran out of the tent (once again) and hustled towards the climbing trees.

* * *

They entered the climbing trees only to find a swarm of Heartless underneath a big black fruit which was hanging from the tree. Jane and the gorilla from before were both tied and struggling in a corner.

"Come on! Let's go!" Sora cried.

The four fighters ran forward and attacked the Heartless in their way.

"No matter how many times we destroy these Heartless, more always re-appear." Goofy said, panting.

Sora glanced at the big black fruit from before.

"Maybe....Just maybe...." He thought.

"Donald! Goofy! You guys distract the Heartless from Jane and the gorilla. Akyra! Come and help me destroy this big black fruit!" Sora ordered.

Goofy and Donald started destroying more Heartless while Sora, followed by Akyra, attacked the black fruit. Within 10 minutes the fruit was destroyed and all the remaining Heartless disappeared. The four of them ran over to Jane.

"How did you get here?" Sora asked.

"Clayton came to the tent and..." Jane mumbled.

"Clayton!! I knew it!" Akyra shouted, interrupting Jane.

"We're going to have to get rid of him once and for all!" Goofy said triumphly.

"Do that, but please be careful..." Jane finished.

* * *

They ran for the cliffs. Once there, they found Clayton but not the real Clayton. This Clayton's eyes were glowing an evil shade of red.

"Well, well what do we have here? The kids, the duck and the dog who think they can stop me... Think again!!" Clayton said angrily.

He backed up against the cliff's side. Suddenly, a powerful blow knocked the four of them off their feet. And once the dust was settled they saw not the cliff's side behind Clayton but a tiny platform connected to a lake with a huge waterfall.

"That's it? Is that all you can do?" Sora yelled at him.

Clayton grinned and said, "Just wait..."

Everything went silent for a moment. Then Sora was knocked backwards by an invisible power.

"Try to attack my Heartless! That is, if you can see it!" Clayton bellowed. He laughed maniacally as the rest of them were knocked back by the invisible Heartless. Clayton ran forward and jumped on top of the invisible shadow as it started attacking them.

"Strategy! 10-4! Hut!" Sora yelled.

The four fighters ran off in different directions and attacked where they thought the Heartless was. They heard Donald yell in pain as he was knocked over.

"There it is!" Sora shouted. He ran towards Donald and attacked the air around him. He finally hit something solid.

"I got you now!" He jumped higher and took a couple of shots at it. After a few more hits, Clayton was knocked off the shadow, which now became clearly visible. It resembled a huge lizard.

"I see you now!" Sora yelled happily.

But before he could take a hit, the lizard had slashed him, knocking his Keyblade out of his hands.

"No! My Keyblade!" He screeched.

A few yards away, Akyra and Goofy had heard his cry for help. They stopped attacking the lizard and scurried towards Sora.

"Goofy! Distract the Heartless! I'll get his Keyblade!" Akyra ordered. Goofy protected Sora and attacked the lizard.

"Hold my Staffblade! Don't lose it!!" She told Sora.

He grabbed her Staffblade and watched what she was going to do next. She started running towards the Keyblade, but Clayton's gunshots stopped her.

"I don't think so!!" He said evilly.

"Oh yeah? Well I think so!"

She started running towards the Keyblade but when Clayton tried to shoot her, she dodged by doing a summersault. This enraged Clayton as he started shooting uncontrollably. Yet again, Akyra dodged them by doing amazing acrobats and cartwheels. She finally got to the other side and threw the Keyblade in Sora's direction. He caught it and continued with the battle.

When they had finally destroyed Clayton and his Heartless companion, the same blue heart rose out of it and flew up to the sky.

"Thanks for helping me Akyra, but where did you learn to do those stunts?" Sora asked.

"I don't know...I just knew I could do them." She replied.

They heard footsteps behind them and saw Kerchak walk up to them. He picked up Sora and tossed him onto the cliff.

"Hey wait for us!" Donald shouted. With a little bit of Tarzan's help, the rest managed to jump over the cliff and join Sora.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sora said happily as he approached a small cave in front of them.

* * *

After a bit of jumping and vine climbing, they found themselves in another cave. But this one was smaller and a large vine surrounded by blue butterflies lay before them.

"The waterfalls!" Jane's voice said. They whirled around and spotted Jane with the gorilla walk into the cave.

"The waterfalls can be heard all the way here!" She continued. Tarzan spoke something the gang didn't understand.

"Hey!" Sora said, "That's the word he said before!"

"Friends there! Friends here." Tarzan grunted.

"Ah, now I understand!" Jane said, "It means heart! Friends in our hearts..."

"Heart..." Tarzan tried to say, "Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no friends."

Sora and Donald turned to face each other.

"You know...About before," Donald said, "I'm sorry, Sora!"

"I'm sorry Donald!" Sora responded as he tried to hug Donald.

"All for one..." Akyra said, joining the hug.

"...And one for all!" Goofy finished, hugging all three of them.

Just then, the blue butterflies fluttered from the vine revealing a large solid Keyhole. Sora approached it and raised his Keyblade triumphly, and the world was sealed.

* * *

"Before you leave, please take this as a thank you from me." Jane said. She tapped Donald and Akyra each on the head and used a potion on them.

"The power to heal..." She said.

"Tarzan...thank.....Sora..." Tarzan grunted. He approached Sora and handed him a tiny keychain with a blue butterfly on the end. He then walked over to Akyra and also handed her a keychain, but hers had a flower at the end.

"Please come visit us again. Tarzan and I would be thrilled to see you again!" Jane said merrily.

"Thanks! We're sure to come back!" Sora said as he climbed into the Gummi Ship.

* * *

"I wonder what this keychain does." Sora mumbled to himself, still examining the keychain.

"Let me see!" Akyra said. She took the keychain and examined it herself.

"Well, it's a keychain, so that means you have to put keys on it."

She glanced at Sora's Keyblade.

"And the Keyblade is a key..."

She took the Keyblade and unhooked the old keychain and handed it to Sora. She then hooked on the new keychain. Immediately, the Keyblade changed form. It became longer and turned from silver steel to purple wood. The key at the end switched into little wooden teeth and the handle became wooden as well.

"Oh wow! How did you know?"

"Easy! It's called thinking Akyra! You take everything obviously. You're supposed to put keys on a keychain, obviously. And the Keyblade's a key, obviously. So, just hook it on..."

She did the same thing with her Staffblade. In turned from silver to purple, the writing around it became spikes and the heart shape at the top was replaced by heart-shaped vines.

"We're here!" Donald quacked as they landed in Traverse Town. They disembarked, still eager for their next adventure.

* * *

Me: I have very bad news!

Audience: What is it?

Me: It's almost school time! Which means I'll be updating later...

Everyone: WHAT!?! AAA!! (run around in circles and screaming)

Me: It's not that bad, you know...

Everyone: It's not? AAAAAA (run around in circles and screaming)


	13. The Dusty Book Of Pooh

Me: I'm updating the most I can before school starts! Enjoy! 

Audience: (are eating lasagna) Huh?

Me: I said I have a new chapter!

Audience: (continue eating lasagna)

Me: -.-

Disclaimer: I only own Akyra! (pokes Akyra) I own you! Heehee

* * *

"We visited four worlds so far? Wow! That's pretty good!" Jiminy said the next morning, "Who knows how many more we'll save!"

"I just hope the rest of them are normal with no talking rabbits." Akyra said sleepily.

"And no stubborn goats." Donald said, staring at his breakfast.

"And no psycho person trying to hunt gorillas." Sora finished.

"Aw, lighten up! I'm sure the next one will be as good as the rest!" Jiminy said, putting away his journal.

"Hey everyone! Good morning!" Yuffie called. The four friends turned around to see Yuffie walk into their hotel room.

"I'm lucky I found you! Leon wants to ask you guys a few questions."

"Okay then. Where is he?" Sora asked.

"He's in his secret training spot. Go to the second district, next to the fountain, there's an alley door. Then go into the opening in the wall. He should be there." She finished as she walked out the door.

* * *

"Leon trains in the sewers!?! Gross..." Akyra said. 

"It's not that bad. Just a short swim..." Sora said. They swam to the surface and got out of the water, shivering.

"Well, you found this place, congrats. Now I have a few questions for you." Leon told them.

"Fire away," Sora said happily.

"Alright, we're there any keyholes in the worlds you visited?"

"Yeah. But I locked them."

"Good!" A voice said. Behind Leon appeared Aerith, the one who had helped Donald and Goofy when they first arrived in Traverse Town. "Every world has a Keyhole. That's why the Heartless want to enter it. The Keyhole leads right into the world itself. And when the Heartless invade that world, it becomes swallowed by darkness and disappears."

"That's why your Keyblade is so important." Leon finished.

"Okay! Let's go seal the Keyholes, guys!" Sora said triumphly.

"Before you go, Sora, I want you to have this..." Leon said, as he placed a green gem in Sora's hand.

"I've been holding onto it for luck. But you'll need more luck than me."

"Hey, thanks!"

"Oh wait!" Aerith called after them, "Cid also wanted to ask you a few questions!"

"Is he in a sewer too?" Akyra asked.

Aerith chuckled. "No. He's in his usual shop..."

* * *

"Hey, kids! Welcome back!" Cid said merrily as they entered the shop. 

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again: I'M NOT A KID!! I'M SORA! SORA! SORA!!!!!!!!" Sora screeched.

"Alright, alright, sorry! Anyways...Did you find any Gummi blocks in the other worlds?" Cid asked.

"We sure did!" Donald said while giving him the Gummi. Cid took them and examined them closely.

"Yup! They're Gummis!"

"So? What do they do?" Goofy asked.

"Nothing for the moment. But if I install them onto your Gummi ship, they'll do something..."

"Will you install it for us?" Akyra asked politely.

"Sure! Just do me one favour. Return this book to Merlin." He took out a very old book. A few pages were missing and the cover was plain and faded.

"Merlin? Sure! I've been there before!" Donald said, taking the book.

"Great, thanks! I'll be in the small house in the third district if you need me."

* * *

"Now remember, Sora. Don't go nuts like last time!" Donald screeched. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." Sora said without much interest. They jumped from rock to rock then finally found themselves inside Merlin's house.

"Perfect timing! I just finished fixing up the room!" Merlin said merrily.

"Here, Merlin! We have a book for you from Cid!" Donald said, handing the book to the magician.

"Ah, yes! I gave this to Cid to repair for me! Please give him my thanks."

"We sure will!"

"Oh! Hello there!" A kind voice said. The four of them whirled around and found a kind old lady standing before them.

"Um...Hi!" Sora said.

"I'm the Fairy Godmother! Pleased to meet-"

She finished her sentence with a gasp.

"What's the matter?" Goofy asked.

"The stone, dear, oh the poor creature!" She said, pointing to the green stone in Sora's hands.

"Oh, this? Leon gave it to me!"

"But it's not just a stone."

"It's not?"

"No! This stone is special! When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants. But this creature had such a strong heart, he became a stone instead!"

"Is there anyway we could bring it back?"

"Yes, but only his spirit will come back. Call for him when you need help in battle." The Fairy Godmother flicked her wand. The stone disappeared from Sora's hand and turned into a small green light, which entered Sora's heart.

"Weird..."Donald said fascinated.

"Thanks! Well I guess we should be going. Right, guys?" Sora said, turning around, "Hey, wait a second. Where's Akyra?"

"I'm right here!" Akyra's voice said. It came from outside of Merlin's hut. The three remaining exited the hut and went to see what she was up to.

"Sora, look!" Akyra said, pointing to a chest.

"I just found it. It's locked, but maybe you can open it!"

"Okay, I'll try." Sora walked up to the chest and taped his Keyblade on its cover. The chest immediately opened, then disappeared. A single little paper flew out of it and landed into Akyra's hands.

"What is it?" Goofy asked. "I don't know. Let's ask Merlin since he's right here." Sora finished.

* * *

They re-entered the hut and questioned Merlin about the piece of paper. 

"Ah! It looks like one of the pages from the book you returned earlier! Do you mind inserting it?"

"No problem!" Sora said happily. He jumped from the spiral platform, approached the book and carefully opened it. The moment he placed the paper inside the book, a strange wind picked up. With a huge flash of light, Sora vanished.

"Hey! Where did Sora go!?!" Akyra yelled.

"Oh, no worry, Akyra. Sora was temporarily transported into the book," Merlin said, "He's fine."

* * *

Meanwhile, Sora got up and looked around. 

"Great! I'm in a book!" He thought sarcastically. "This is so weird," he thought again, "I'm actually walking on the pages!" He paced around the pages looking for any kind of exit. He stumbled upon a field with a lonesome log in the middle. But sitting on the log was a chubby yellow bear wearing a red shirt. Sora decided to talk to him.

"Hello?" Sora said to the bear. The bear didn't answer. "Hello?" He asked again. The bear looked up and gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking."

"About what?" Sora asked, while sitting on the log next to the bear.

"Just about my friends."

"Say, where are your friends?"

"I don't know. But I think they left me."

"Aw, come on. Friends never leave each other. Maybe they just got lost, or something."

"What if they did? Oh, I'm not too good at finding people."

"I'll help you find them!"

"You will? Oh, thank you, uh..."

"Sorry! I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sora"

"Nice to meet you Sora, I'm Winnie. But my friends call me Pooh."

"Well, Pooh, I'll help find your friends!"

"But where do we look?"

"Good question..." He started thinking about where Pooh's friends could be.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Thinking? That's it! Pooh, you just gave me an idea!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! My best friend once told me if I'm stuck anywhere to think like her. Think Akyra!"

"Think Akyra?"

"Yeah! Take everything obviously! You are looking for your friends. But you live in a book obviously. And it's tattered and old, obviously. And some pages are missing, obviously... That's it!! You're friends were on the other pages of this book! And since the pages fell out of this book, so did they!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! And your friends could be in other worlds! And I have to go there anyway because I need to lock their Keyholes! Pooh, I'll find your friends. I promise."

"Thanks Sora!"

"Just one more thing: Where's the exit?"

"It's on the top right of this book."

"Thanks, Pooh. When I come back, I'll have your friends."

"Thank you!"

"Your welcome! See you!" Sora walked out of the page and made his way to the top right of the book. Sure enough, a spiral tower of glitter stood there, and when he entered it, he was out of the book.

* * *

"Finally! I thought you'd never come out!" Donald quacked angrily. 

"So? What happened in there?" Akyra asked eagerly.

"All I could say is find more of those papers, Akyra!"

"Why?"

"I'll tell you guys on the way back to the small house."

So he told them the story of Pooh and his friends as they made their way back to the small house.

* * *

Me: Did you read it?

Audience: Read what?

Me: The chapter!

Audience: What chapter!?! You updated without telling us!?!!!! (attack goddessof2003)

Me: 0.0 (runs away from audience)


	14. Ringing Bells and Riku

Me: Pretty short chapter, but I did the best I can.

Audience: Why didn't you tell us last time? (cry)

Me: I did tell you! You weren't listening to me!

Audience: 0.0 You did?

Me: Yep.

Audience: It's your fault you didn't speak loudly! We couldn't hear you! (attack goddessof2003)

Me: (groan) Not again...

Disclaimer: DO YOU HAVE COTON IN YOUR EARS!?!!?! I TOLD YOU, I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS!!!! I OWN 

* * *

"Hmm...Pooh sounds like a good sport. Alright! In addition to saving worlds, we will hunt for torn pages everywhere we go!" Akyra announced.

"No way! I am not helping anybody! I'm looking for the King, and that's all I'm doing!" Donald quacked after her, as they exited the fire door.

"Aw, Donald! How much work could finding a few torn pages possibly be? Plus, poor Pooh lost his friends!" She argued.

"Who lost their friends?" a familiar voice said. Sora and Akyra turned around slowly, remembering who that voice belonged to...

"Riku!" Sora cried running towards his friend, "Is it really you?" Akyra ran forward and pinched Riku's arm. But he didn't flinch.

"No reaction to pinching... He must be real!" Akyra shouted.

"Um...Sora? Do you mind?" Riku asked. Sora was searching for something in Riku's hair.

"Oh, yeah, sure..." Sora answered, finally leaving his hair.

"We looked everywhere for you!" Akyra said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, we thought we'd never- Hey, where's Kairi?" Sora asked him.

"I thought she was with you." Riku replied.

"Don't worry, guys, we'll find her," Akyra said happily. Nobody seemed to notice a tiny shadow Heartless creeping near her. It pounced and attacked her by the back.

"Hey! Alright, Donald, why did you hurt me?"

"I didn't! Stop blaming me for everything!"

"I'm not! But who else would hurt me purposely? AAA!! Heartless!!" She whipped out her Staffblade and slashed the shadow. It disappeared in an instant.

"Dumb, Heartless... They follow us everywhere..." she told Riku.

"How do you fight them?"

"With our weapons, duh!" Sora said happily, "And we would've been dead by now if it weren't for them! (He pointed in Donald and Goofy's direction) They saved our lives on a countless number of times!"

"Well, aren't you lucky?" Riku said, his face glowing red with jealousy.

"And guess what? Sora's the Keyblade master!" Goofy said happily, as always.

"A Keyblade, huh?" Riku said, holding up the Keyblade so it gleamed in the moonlight.

"How did you- How did he?" Sora stammered, "Give it back!!"

Riku laughed. "Catch!"

Sora caught it in his hands and made sure it was secure. "So, are you coming with us?"

"NO WAY!!" It wasn't Riku who answered. Donald did.

"Why not!?!" Sora argued.

"He can't come with us!"

"Do you mind giving us a reason why?" Akyra asked in rage.

"Yeah! He's our friend!" Sora yelled.

"HA! Your friend? What kind of a friend would ditch you like that?" Donald quacked.

"He didn't ditch us!" Sora screeched.

"Oh yeah?" Donald pointed to where Riku was standing. Except Riku had vanished.

"Where did he go?" Sora asked.

"You know what guys? We've been acting silly. We're supposed to stick together, remember? All for one and one for all?" Akyra told them.

"Yeah... Well, at least we know he's okay!" Sora said, "I'm sorry Donald, again."

"Me too, Sora."

"Off to Cid's small house!" Goofy cheered.

* * *

They entered the house, surprised to see Cid with Leon, Aerith and Yuffie.

"Hi! Why's everybody here?" Sora asked.

"We wanted to talk about something..."Aerith said.

"Do you know Maleficent?" Leon asked them. The four friends shook their heads.

"She's the reason why all the Heartless are here. She has the power to control them." "

Why does she want to take over the worlds?" Goofy asked.

"She doesn't. The Heartless do. She's just searching for the princesses of heart. When she finishes with one world, she lets the Heartless do whatever they want. And they want to destroy it. Sora... Find this world's Keyhole and lock it, before the Heartless get out of hand."

Sora nodded. There was a loud bang and the ground almost shook.

"What was that?" Akyra asked.

"It's probably the bell on top of the Gizmo shop. Why don't you go check it out? Pull it three times." Yuffie said.

"Okay. We'll find the Keyhole and seal it!" Sora cheered.

"Please hurry..."Aerith said softly.

* * *

While they made their way to the Gizmo shop, the topic of conversation was where they were from. Donald and Goofy described their king's castle. And Sora described their island.

"...and we used to play-battle when we were little! I had a wooden sword. Man that was the best! I almost beat Riku once! And Akyra had two fans. She did have some pretty good moves, but I beat her most of the time and..."

"Most of the time!?! Are you kidding? You were way too easy for me, Sora!" Akyra said.

"Oh yeah? Remember the time I beat you before you had a chance to even touch me?"

"My dad was calling me for lunch! I was distracted!"

"Lame excuse! I beat you fair and square!"

"Face it! I beat you more times!"

"Oh yeah? Well beat this!"

He caught her lightly by the neck and pulled her down. He then made his hand into a fist and rubbed hard on her head.

"Hey! You can't do that without me doing it first!" Akyra laughed.

"Okay, when you're finished being kids, we'll be on top of the Gizmo shop." Donald said. Sora let go of Akyra and helped her up.

"Well, Donald, you now know what we used to play." She said while fixing her hair.

"Where did you guys come from, craze town?"

"No. But I wish I knew..." Akyra said sadly.

"You don't know where you're from?" Goofy asked. Akyra sighed.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find it while we're saving any other worlds!" Goofy said with encouragement.

"Yeah. It's out there somewhere! We'll just have to find it!" She cheered.

* * *

Before they knew it, they were on top of the Gizmo shop, where they defeated a last wave of Heartless.

"Where's the bell?" Donald asked.

"It must be behind here." Sora said, looking at a hole in the wall that was all boarded up.

"Great Sora! Now how do we get in?" Donald asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Goofy chanted, "Donald, you can stand in front of the boards, and Akyra will stand behind you, and Sora will stand behind Akyra. Then I will run and tackle you! With all of us pushing, we might make it through!"

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!" Donald quacked.

"We have no other choice!" Akyra said, while dragging him to the front. They all took their positions. Goofy took a huge breath, and ran towards them. The moment he smashed into Sora, the four of them crashed into the boards.

"Akyra, do you mind getting off me?" Donald asked.

"I would love to! Sora, do you mind getting off me?"

"I would love too! Goofy do you mind getting off me?"

"Oh, yeah!" Goofy said. They all rose up and looked at what was in the boarded hole. Sure enough, a bell, connected to a rope, was in the hole.

"Cid told us to ring it three times." Sora said.

"So? Go ring it!" Donald ordered.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to yell..." Sora approached the golden bell.

"Here goes nothing. One..." He said, pulling the rope.

"Two..." He said, while tugging it again.

"Three..."

* * *

Me: I escaped the audience!

Akyra: How did you do that?

Me: (evil grin)

-Somewhere far far away-

Audience Leader: Goddessof2003 told us that there is sugar here! Keep digging!

Rest of audience: (are digging)


	15. Unconnected Body Parts

Me: Since school recently started (teardrop) I will be updating once a week. Sorry readers!

Akyra: School ruins everything! (cries)

Diclaimer: Okay... I won't scream this time... I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Akyra.

Sora pulled the rope one final time. But after the bell finished its echoing tune, nothing seemed to happen.

"Great, is this what we spent our time on?" Donald asked furiously.

"Well, at least it wasn't a waste!" Akyra said.

"Oh, how would you know?"

"Look" She pointed to the fountain in front of the staircases. The fountain's background had changed from pink roses to black and white butterflies, but that wasn't all. In front of the butterfly background gleamed an unmistakable Keyhole.

"I guess I'll be sealing that!" Sora said happily as he hopped off the roof followed by the rest.

* * *

They arrived at the fountain in a matter of seconds. Sora raised his blade, prepared to seal the Keyhole. But before he had a chance to do so, a mighty wind blew them back, knocking the four of them off their feet. When the dust cleared, they saw a figure in front of them... A very familiar figure... 

"It's Guard Armor again!" Jiminy shouted, poking out of Akyra's pocket, "Go get'em guys!"

"Jiminy, NOT NOW!" Akyra screeched, stuffing him into her pocket. The Guard Armor didn't attack them. On the contrary, it reshaped its arms and feet and switched their position. It flipped its torso upside down and raised the armour from its face, revealing its eyes.

"I fear our strategically formed plan will not function under this very circumstance." Goofy said, changing his voice a little.

"Goofy, you're not smart enough to use all those words in one sentence. What did you say anyways?" Donald asked.

"Look out!" Goofy shouted.

The Opposite Armor (that's what Jiminy called it) slashed its arm (or foot) in their direction. Luckily, they dodged it just in time. But Sora got the full blast. He was knocked backwards (again) and skidded towards the other side of the District. The three remaining fought Opposite Armor with everything they still had. It took them a couple of minutes but they finally destroyed its hands and feet. Once the torso started attacking, Akyra caught a glimpse of Sora, still on the other side of the District. She ran up to him.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I can't fight anymore. I don't have anymore potions, either."

"Well, you could've asked you know!" She raised her Staffblade into the air and pronounced the word 'Heal'. A couple of leaves fluttered above him.

"What did you do?" he asked while getting up.

"I healed you. What else?"

"Jane's spell?"

"Yep... Now let's go get this thing!" She yelled as they ran towards the battle.

The Opposite Armor was easily defeated with Sora back in the team. Its torso fell to the ground, as a tiny blue heart hovered on top of it until finally floating up to the sky. The Keyhole reappeared in front of the butterfly background where which it was located earlier. Without wasting any time, Sora lifted his Keyblade and watched as the flash of light darted towards the Keyhole and made the locking sound they all recognized.

* * *

They ran back to the third district's small house, eager to tell Leon the exciting news. They burst into the small house. 

"We sealed the Keyhole!" Sora chanted.

"Really? You found it? Yay!" Aerith chimed happily.

"Now we don't have to worry about Heartless, right?" Yuffie asked.

"Nope! The guard's defeated, the keyhole is sealed, the world's safe!" Akyra shouted.

"Good. Sora... You have to help the other worlds..." Leon said glumly.

"Don't worry! We're off to another world tomorrow anyway!"

They laughed ant talked with them the rest of the evening. But little did Sora and Akyra know that someone they longed to find was watching them...

"You see, dear boy? While you suffer looking for them, they just forgot about you. Why, they even replaced you with new friends." A tall woman dressed in a black robe said.

"But... Sora and Akyra would never do that to me... They're looking for me and Kairi..." Riku said slowly.

"If the ones you call Sora and Akyra would never do that to you, why would they replace you and Kairi? Hmm?"

Riku didn't answer. He stared at Sora and Akyra through the window.

"They found new companions to restore the life they once had. And it seems they value them much more than they value you. You're better off without that self-centered boy and wretched girl. Forget them and come with me, I will help you find your friend Kairi..."

Riku frowned while staring at the ones he thought were his friends. The ones he thought would remember him. The ones he thought would try to find him...

* * *

"The Gummi ship looks just like it did before, Cid. What did you do to it?" Sora asked. 

"Oh, just a couple of things. I installed a warp drive, so you can get to other places faster, and I added that block you found in Deep Jungle, that maximizes your view up ahead so you can see the warp holes."

"What are warp holes?" Donald quacked.

"You need warp holes to get to other worlds. Don't worry, I'll be in here if you need any Gummi help."

"But if you're here, then who's watching the Accessory shop?" Sora asked yet again.

"Why don't you guys go check it out?"

* * *

They entered the accessory shop almost as fast as they left the small house. The shop was empty. But still, a very small noise was in the air. 

"I can't believe my eyes! Pinocchio? Is that really you?" Jiminy said while jumping out of Akyra's pocket and landing on the floor next to what looked like a wooden boy puppet.

"Oh, hi Jiminy! What are you doing here?" the puppet asked while standing up.

"What am I doing here?? What are you doing here!?! And what's that?" Jiminy asked, pointing to the box on the floor.

"I'm playing hide-and-seek! And while I was playing, someone gave me this box as a present!" With that, the boy's nose grew longer.

"Are you telling the truth, Pinocchio?"

"Yes!"

"No you're not! You know a lie only grows and grows until you get caught!"

"But, Jiminy! I never lie when you're around!" Pinocchio's nose suddenly grew smaller.

"Good boy, Pinocchio. If you keep this up, you might actually become a real boy! Won't Gepetto be proud?"

"I know... Do you know where father is?"

"No. But we'll find him! These fellow friends are visiting every world. We're bound to find father sometime. But until then, don't move from here!"

"I won't!"

* * *

"If we want to find Pinocchio's dad, we have to visit other worlds?" Akyra asked as the gang stepped out of the shop. 

"Yes. Only I think we should rest up before going..." Jiminy answered sleepily.

So they ventured on to the second district hotel, where they spent every night...

* * *

Audience: We came back! Look what we found! (hold up box of sugar) 

Me: 0.0 How did you find sugar???

Audience: Easy! You sent us to dig at the site of 'Sugar underground'

Me: X.x


	16. Desert Heat and Magic Carpets

Me: I just wanted to tell you guys a few things. First, I've noticed that a couple of you have been asking me questions about the story. I'm sorry to say that I can't answer you. You'll have to wait and see. But I promise all your questions will be answered. And I also want to remind you that this story can take up to 60 chapters (or more!). Hope you guys are patient! Also, I update once a week. It may be Tuesday on one week, and Saturday the next. All I can guarantee you is that I will update once a week, I promise. Lastly, I would like to say thank you to all you readers. Even if I give all my extra time to writing my fic, you still read and review. I really appreciate it, readers. Thanks you guys!

Disclaimer: I've run out of witty ideas for the Disclaimer part, so I'll just say it. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I only own Akyra... There, I said it.

From the window where they slept, Riku spied on them one final time. He moved to Akyra's window and stared longingly at her Staffblade.

"The Staffblade is the Keyblade's best friend?" he asked the same woman in black robes.

She nodded an evil look on her face.

"But... I'm Sora's best friend! I'm the one who should have it! I'm the one who promised Sora we would go to other worlds together! Why her and not me!?!" he raged.

The woman smiled evilly while staring in Riku's direction.

* * *

They loaded up the Gummi ship the next morning and restocked on any number of potions and ethers needed. Before leaving, Yuffie came up to them. 

"Before you go, I have something for you. You know magic spells, right?" The gang nodded.

"Well, I have one for you." She taped each of them on their heads twice, reached into her left shoe, and pulled out a few metallic stars. She threw them in the air and waited till each one had fallen down.

"The ability of stars... Use it well."

* * *

"You know, Cid could've installed a map for us... I have no idea where we are!" Donald said angrily. 

"I'm not even driving and I know where we are!" Sora said without interest, "Look! Up ahead is Wonderland. And to the left is some weird black swirly thing."

Up ahead, next to Wonderland, a swirly hole hung in the air. The swirls around it were deep purple and black, but the hole in the middle was clear crystal white. Small lightning bolts sometimes spouted out of it.

"Weird swirly thing?" Akyra asked.

"Yeah. The one were getting sucked into right now..... WHAT?"

Almost instantly, the Gummi ship entered the white hole. They flew through it so fast that they couldn't see outside the blurred windows. The ride of a lifetime finished in less than a second. Wiping the smoke off of the windshield, the gang saw what was unmistakably a world. It resembled a huge palace with embroidery towers and windows. It seemed fit for a king and queen. Underneath the world, a purple tiger head stood upside-down. They landed shortly onto the mysterious world.

"This place looks as weird as the.....last.....ones......whew....too.....hot" Sora said while disembarking the ship. He grabbed a tissue and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Of course it's hot; we're in the middle of a desert!" Akyra pointed out. They explored the seemingly deserted city until they came across a stack of barrels.

"This place is deserted!" Donald screeched while kicking the barrels. Instead of rattling a bit, the barrels moved from side to side. Petrified, Donald ran behind Goofy, shaking. A very young lady poked her head out of the barrels.

"Who's there?" she asked in a shaky voice. She rose out of her barrel. Her hair was black and tied in a very long braid.

"Hello. Who are you?" Goofy asked in a gawky sort of tone.

"I'm Jasmine. I'm the Sultan's daughter."

"Really? Well then, why are you hiding?" Sora asked.

"I'm hiding from Jafar! He disposed of my father and is now controlling the city! He's looking for some sort of 'Keyhole'. I tried to escape but he spotted me. That's when Aladdin helped me escape."

"Aladdin, eh? Don't worry, we'll help you! Just one last question... Who's Jafar?" Sora asked meekly.

"You don't know Jafar? Then he's pleased to meet you!" an eerie voice said.

The four friends spinned around and spotted a tall man wearing a red and black cloak. What was so eerie about him was that he had the eyes of a snake.

"Jasmine let me find you more suitable company. Four commoners aren't fit for a princess." He sneered evilly and darted forward towards Jasmine.

"Don't go near her!" Akyra cried, wiping out her Staffblade so that it barely touched Jafar's long nose.

"Why you.... Staffblade? The Keyblade's bodyguard... And where is this Keyblade?" Sora drew his Keyblade to Jafar as well.

"We know what you're thinking and you're wrong!"

"So you know what I'm thinking? Then figure out why I want the princess instead of your silly key!" He laughed manically and disappeared in a flash, leaving a wave of Heartless in his wake. Princess Jasmine was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

With the Heartless out of their way, the team ventured forward towards an entrance to a very vast and empty desert. Waiting in front of the desert for them was a sleek and purple carpet. What surprised the team the most was that the carpet was hopping and moving about. 

"A magic carpet? Wow!" Goofy shouted. The carpet moved its corners in a weird sort of way. It shook them in the direction of the desert.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Sora asked the carpet. It was pretty awkward asking a carpet a question. The carpet suddenly swooped under them, knocking them over on top of it, as it started to fly further into the desert.

* * *

"A flying carpet, a princess in peril and some mystery bad guy. Wow, I gotta write all of this down!" Jiminy said happily as he started taking notes in his journal. The carpet underneath suddenly started jerking forward, nearly throwing Jiminy off of Akyra's shoulder. Luckily, she caught him and held onto him securely. 

"What's the matter?" Akyra asked frantically, still gripping tightly onto Jiminy. The carpet made frantic movements and dived downwards into the sand. The four friends quickly spotted a man trapped in the sand. The sand dissolved under him as he tried to struggle free.

"We gotta help him!" Donald screeched. They jumped off the carpet and as they tried to help the man, a new wave of Heartless stopped them.

"Goofy, you're strong! Help that man and we'll get rid of these guys!" Sora ordered. Goofy scooted over to where the man was, grabbed his hand and tried to tug the man out of the quicksand. The man got out safely and wiped out a strange looking lamp.

"Genie, get rid of these guys!" the man cried while rubbing the lamp really quickly. A blue smoke started flowing from the lamp and turned into a blue genie.

"Wish number one, coming up!" the genie yelled happily. He snapped his fingers and the Heartless were gone in less than a second.

"Wow..." Sora sighed.

"Thanks for helping me out!" Aladdin said to Goofy, "And you too!" He turned in the others' direction.

"Oh, it was nothing. Plus, it's really the carpet you should thank. He's the one that brought us to you." Sora said.

"Really, Carpet? Thanks a lot! What do you say we fly back to Agrabah?"

* * *

"I'm Sora! This is Donald, and there's Goofy. And one of my best friends Akyra!" 

Donald glared at Sora.

"N-n-not that you're not one of my friends, Donald." He stuttered.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aladdin."

"Um, Aladdin? What are you doing out here anyways?" Akyra asked him.

"Oh, nothing much... Just prodding around the Cave Of Wonders, hunting for magical or legendary treasure that may be worth millions. I found Carpet in there and this magic lamp! Did you know that if someone rubs the lamp a-"

"Kid! That intro was boring and sissy. Leave the intros to the professionals! The one and only......ME!!! The Genie of the lamp!!!! Rub the lamp and have the most extraordinary wishes granted!" the genie screamed into the morning sun.

A bunch of confetti and balloons appeared out of nowhere and fluttered in the air.

"And today's winner is........ Aladdin! Congrats, kid! You already spent wish number one, so what will number two be?"

A microphone appeared out of nowhere.

"Speak into the mike, kid."

"How about a wealthy prince?" Aladdin asked.

"Of course..... How come everybody wishes for that? Anyways, a thousand servants and camels with bags loaded with gold! Just say the word and I'll deliver it in 30 minutes or less, or your meal is free. Hey, I'll even throw in a cappuccino!" The Genie said rather quickly.

"Can I put that on hold until we reach Agrabah?" Aladdin asked.

"Sure, kid! Just call me up when ya need me!"

With that, the Genie vanished.

"A prince? Can I ask why?" Akyra said.

"Well, there's this princess....and she.... Aw, she'll never fall for a guy like me..."

"I'm an expert at handling this! What's her name?"

"Jasmine..." Aladdin said dreamily.

"Jasmine?" Akyra asked nervously. She glanced to Sora and Donald, a worried look on her face.

"We completely forgot about Jasmine!" Sora shouted.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Aladdin asked.

"Jasmine's in trouble! You gotta help us, Aladdin!" Donald screeched.

"She is???!!! Well come on!! Let's move!"

* * *

Me: Wow, I never thought I would make it to Agrabah so quickly. 

Akyra: Me neither.

Audience: Quickly? QUICKLY??? You left us in suspense for more than a week!!!!

Me: That's the thrill of being an author. (smiles)


	17. The Search For Jasmine

Me: Whooooo!! This chappie's early!

Audience: Ya! You deserve sugar for this! (hands me a bag of sugar)

Me: Sugar???? (stuffs face in sugar)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Yup. I own Akyra. Yup

"Where would a very evil man take a helpless princess?" Donald asked in a very fascinated tone.

"Does it matter?! We have to find her!!!" Aladdin yelled at him, finally coming to a stop.

"Aladdin, cool it. We're going around in circles, so we gotta find which way to go!" Sora said.

"I guess you're right..." Aladdin chocked.

"Okay! We checked the desert, the bazaar, the creepy alleyway, the plaza and Aladdin's house. Did we miss a spot?" "The Palace Gates!" the Genie said, floating out of his lamp.

"Alright! The Palace Gates!" Akyra said triumphly, spinning around to the next corridor. In front of them were huge brass gates, ornamented with a shiny purple keyhole. The pact stared in Sora's direction at the sight of the keyhole.

"Ya, I know, I know..." He said grumpily. H e raised his Keyblade and fit it into the lock, turned it three times and retrieved his Keyblade. They heard an unlocking sound and the keyhole turned from purple to dark red.

"What are we waiting for?" Goofy asked merrily as he pushed open the gates.

* * *

They entered the gates and, sure enough, Jafar stood on a high ledge, a triumph look on his face. 

"I knew you'd come back, key bearer. Oh, and look, Iago. They brought the street rat to help them!" The 'Iago' he was talking about was a tiny red parrot that sat on his right shoulder. "Come to save Jasmine, boy? How sweet..."

"Aladdin! I'm sorry!" Jasmine cried, held back by Jafar.

"Don't worry, Jasmine! I'll save you!" Aladdin yelled back at her.

He grabbed the magic lamp and rubbed it briskly while muttering something under his breath.

"Wish number two, coming up!" Genie said rather briskly. He saved Jasmine from Jafar's clutches and flew back towards the gang.

"I'm afraid your second wish has been denied, boy!" Jafar screeched. Iago swooped down and grabbed the lamp from Aladdin's hands, brought it to his master and dropped it in front of him.

"Sorry, Al..." Genie said sadly, letting go of Jasmine. Jasmine streaked downward and fell into a red pot.

"I wish you lots of luck. You'll need it!" Jafar grinned evilly as he vanished once again.

The red pots joined together to form a long line. On the front, a blue head with Heartless eyes formed, as well as a tail. It looked bloodshot and ready for battle.

"Strategy! NOW!!!" Sora ordered. The five of them ran off in different directions and thus, the battle began.

* * *

The strategy worked quite well (finally). The centipede became too confused to attack. The fighters seized their chance and attacked the centipede. 

"Hey, Akyra! How about testing out our new spell?" Donald quacked. Akyra nodded with glee. They pointed their staves towards the centipede's head and cried "Gravity!" Immediately, a purple orb swallowed its head and brought it underground, causing it damage. They whacked it several times while it was still underground, causing it even more damage. The centipede's head rose out of the ground looking stunned.

"Hey! Great spell, guys!" Sora yelled from the other side of the battlefield. Donald and Akyra gave themselves a high five and continued with the battle.

Once the centipede's head and tail were defeated, the red pots disappeared one by one and the same blue heart rose from its remainders.

"Where did Jafar go?" Aladdin asked in a worried tone.

"I spotted him while you were fighting!" Jiminy said, who was now sitting on Akyra's shoulder, his journal propped open, "He went towards the desert!"

"Looks like its time for another carpet ride!" Sora said happily, winking at Akyra. She smiled and followed them towards the plaza.

Once at the plaza, Aladdin gave a huge whistle. The carpet suddenly came jerking down and landed in front of Aladdin. The five of them hopped on and flew through the empty desert.

* * *

The carpet dropped them off in the middle of the desert. 

"Why are we here?" Donald asked impatiently.

"This is the entrance to the Cave of Wonders..." Aladdin said mysteriously, "Only when it feels someone worthy of its treasure approaches it, they let them enter!"

They walked towards what looked like uncharted territory of endless sand. Suddenly the ground began to rumble and shake underneath them. The sand began to create some sort of whirlpool as a mass of sand rose from underground. The sand took the shape of the tiger's head they had noticed before when they landed in the world for the first time. The tiger growled evilly and asked, "Who dares to enter the Cave of Wonders?"

Aladdin stepped forward, frightened. The tiger began to sway uncontrollably as the ground erupted under them. Hundreds of Heartless jumped out from under the sand and ran towards them, ready for battle. Aladdin jumped.

"There's something wrong! It's possessed!" He screamed.

"Take cover and attack its eyes!" Goofy yelled. They all seemed pretty surprised being ordered to attack by Goofy, but listened to him anyways. They climbed up the tiger's neck and landed on his head. Once there, they tried attacking its laser eyes, but mostly missed. One of the lasers shot Akyra squarely on her chest and sent her skidding off his head. She got up, shaking the sand out of her dark pink hair. A weird feeling rose within her. A feeling of anger and revenge. It forced her to want to hurt the tiger. She raised her Staffblade in the air and brought it down as hard as she can to the ground. Just then, four bolts of lightning came striking down to the tiger's eyes. It yelped in pain and swayed back and forth once again. Akyra was stunned by her magic. That was the best thunder spell she ever cast. Meanwhile, Sora and Aladdin leaped off the tiger's head as it regained its normal position. It opened its mouth wide that revealed a golden staircase. The Heartless seemed to have stopped appearing.

"Come on guys! We have no time to lose!" Sora ordered as he ran alongside Aladdin towards the cave's mouth.

* * *

The cave was lit very dimly but looked very elegant to be coming from a tiger's mouth. There were high platforms and a long but narrow corridor led to the next chamber. 

"This way!" Aladdin said briskly, running towards the entrance in the wall.

They ventured through chamber after chamber until they finally reached a treasure room. Mountains of golden coins piled in the corners as well as crowns and golden staves. Aladdin approached a golden statue resembling an ape. The statue was holding a huge ruby gem.

"We just have to call it and it will let us enter the next room!" Aladdin said happily. He touched the bright gem lightly and took a step back. The doors in the wall quickly opened to reveal the final chamber.

"Alright then, let's go!" Sora shouted.

"Sora, wait!" Akyra called. The four of them whirled around and faced her. She was clutching a red treasure box.

"It's locked. Maybe your key will open it!"

"It's worth a try..." Sora said.

He taped the box twice. The box jerked open and shot something in the air before disappearing. A small piece of ripped paper fluttered to the ground.

"A torn page!" He screeched, "They belong to Pooh's book! We probably found his friends..."

"That will have to wait until we get to Traverse Town! We have some unfinished business here!" Donald said.

With that, Sora stuffed the page in his pocket and joined the team as they ventured to the final room...

* * *

Me: (is on a sugar freak and is singing uncontrollably)

Audience: (have their ears blocked)

Akyra: (steps in room and blocks her ears) What's going on???!!!

Audience: Apparently we gave her too much sugar!

Me: (sings off key) This is the niiiiiiigggggghhhhhhttttt!

Akyra: (throws a bucket of water on me)

Me: (spits) Okay, I'll stop...


	18. A Little Too Much Power

Me: (is sleeping) ZZZZZZZZZZZZ......

Audience: Hey! Aren't you supposed to tell us all the bad stuff about your chappie now?

Me: (wakes up) Oh yeah..... I wrote the ending in a hurry so sorry if it's boring...(falls back asleep)

Disclaimer: (snore) (talks in sleep) Don't......own......Kingdom Hearts.......only....own .........Akyra....zzzzzzzzz

Their worst dreams had come true. There, standing on a platform before them, was Jafar, the woman in black robes and Riku.

"Well, well, you were right Jafar... The boy did follow us here..." the woman sneered. "And you must be Maleficent!" Sora screeched. "You're clever, boy, but not clever enough!" She said, widening her voice. She stepped aside and revealed Jasmine, lying unconscious next to them. Aladdin struggled to run after her, but Donald and Goofy held him back. The last thing they needed was to lose Aladdin too. "Hussy now, are we?" Maleficent grinned, "Jafar! Get rid of them!" She ordered as she disappeared in black smoke. Jasmine disappeared as well. Riku jumped off the platform.

"I'll be going. They should be easy for you, Jafar!" he laughed.

"Easy for him?! What do you mean 'easy for him'???" Everyone stared at Sora. But he wasn't the one who talked back. Akyra was. A look of rage was on her face.

"You should understand, Akyra," Riku sneered, "that 'easy for him' means you're easy enough for him to defeat."

"Why are you doing this to us? We're your friends! You're our friend!"

"Really!?!" Riku stormed after her, "Friend? Ha! Some friends you are! The moment you lose me, you run off and get new ones. And isn't logical that I was more of a friend to Sora than you ever were?"

"What are you talking about?" Akyra asked.

"I was always a better friend to Sora! Why do you end up with the Staffblade!?!" The five of them stared at him for a moment, and then laid their eyes on Akyra.

"Is that what this is about? M-my Staffblade?" She stuttered. She looked Riku in the eyes and noticed something. Those weren't the eyes of the Riku she once knew. Those were the eyes of a power-hungry Heartless. She picked her head up triumphly. "You care more about the Staffblade than your own friends! You only want power! You're not RIKU!!!" she cried.

Riku glared at them, before turning around and vanishing.

"What happened to him?" Sora asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know.... But I hope he hasn't changed for good..."

They didn't notice Jafar rubbing hard on Genie's lamp. Suddenly, the room was filled with blue smoke and the genie appeared out of his lamp. A sad look was on his face.

"You may be brave, but in the end, you will all perish to Jafar!" Jafar laughed wickedly, "Genie! My second wish! Make me the strongest sorcerer!" Genie shut his eyes as he pointed to Jafar. A small stream of magic flew from his finger and circled around Jafar, who was becoming more powerful by the second. The five of them watched as Jafar grew taller and eventually floated off the ground. Sora smiled as he saw Jafar's evil grin.

"What are you so happy about!?!" Akyra almost shrieked. It wasn't a good time to be laughing.

"I was just 'thinking Akyra'. He's the most powerful sorcerer, so he's stronger than you and Donald, but that means he's vulnerable against me, Goofy and Aladdin." Sora said, still smiling.

Akyra looked at him for a moment and finally said, "I'm glad someone listens to me..."

* * *

The battle raged on and on with Jafar. Now, he had used his final wish to become an almighty genie. But the gang didn't waste any time. They attacked straight for the black lamp every genie owns. Iago, Jafar's fateful parrot, kept trying to grab the lamp from them. 

"I'm going after the bird! You guys handle the lamp." Akyra ordered. She ran after the parrot and stuck it with continuous thunder spells. "Now this, I can enjoy..." She murmured to herself as the parrot squawked loudly.

* * *

Sora ran to the platform and grabbed the black lamp. 

"Alright, Jafar! Back in your lamp where you belong!" He cried as he rubbed the lamp. Jafar moaned loudly as his body became red smoke and entered the lamp. "You were wrong! Haha!" he laughed happily.

"Come on, guys, what about Jasmine?" Aladdin asked.

"Let's go see her." Goofy said lazily as they climbed up to the platform where Jasmine lay.

* * *

But when they got there, Jasmine was nowhere to be seen. In her place shone a bright Keyhole. Sora raised the Keyblade (like usual) and sealed the crystal Keyhole (like usual). 

"Where did she go!?! Jasmine!" Aladdin screeched sadly. The moment he finished the room's walls started to crumble and huge chunks of the ceiling came crashing to the floor.

"We have no time to lose! Come on let's ride back to Agrabah!" Donald ordered as the magic carpet swooped under them and soared out of the cave in the direction of Aladdin's house...

* * *

They stood next to Aladdin, whose face was leaning towards the ground, waiting to see if he would talk or not. He finally picked up his head and looked at Sora. 

"Maybe she's not in Agrabah anymore. Sora.... I have to come with you!"

"No, Aladdin I can't take you with me... Sorry. But we'll find Jasmine! I promise you..."

"Al, you know, you still have one wish left. Just say the word and I'll be flying back here with Jasmine..."

"I wish...." Aladdin stuttered, "Genie? I wish for your freedom!"

"Alright, kid. One princess delivery co- Huh?" The golden cuffs around his wrists instantly vanished and his own two legs appeared.

"I promised I'd free him from the lamp." Aladdin explained. "Now, you can go anywhere you want, Genie! You're your own master!" Aladdin stopped. "But, if you can, it would be nice if you could go along with Sora and help him find Jasmine!"

"Aw... Anything for you, Al. Not demands, though! Favors only... Toodles, Al!" Genie squealed happily as he approached Sora. "If you need me, drop me a line. I'll be exploring your heart's blood vessels." With that, he jumped into a little bright blue ball and entered Sora's heart.

"Here, guys. Thanks for all your help." Aladdin said politely as he handed Sora two keychains.

"Thanks, Aladdin. We should be going now. But we'll come back soon!" Sora said as he hopped onto the Gummi Ship.

* * *

"Wow! These ones are way cooler than the ones we have!" Akyra squealed while looking at their keychains. 

"Okay, Sora, yours has a magic lamp at the end of it..." She said, handing the keychain and keeping the one with a carpet at the end. Sora muttered a thank you and stared out the window.

"What's the matter?" Akyra asked.

"How did you know that wasn't Riku?" Akyra gave him a puzzled look.

"I can see it in his eyes, Sora... Even you can't hide anything from me. It will always be in your eyes..."

"I just hope Riku's okay..."

"He's fine. And we'll find him and Kairi. And Alice and Jasmine. We'll find them all, I know we will..." Sora stared at her for a moment. He knew she was only trying to lift his spirits. He smiled in agreement and joined the conversation the four of them were having all the way back to Traverse Town.

* * *

"Hey, guys! Did the Gummi work?" Cid asked questioningly. 

"Sure did!" Donald said happily.

"Sorry, Cid, but we're in a hurry to see Merlin for something." Sora said, clutching the torn paper in his hands.

"I tried seeing him earlier! He probably went away or something. Why don't you guys try tomorrow?" He advised them.

"Alright, fine..." Sora moaned. So they ventured to their hotel rooms yet another time...

* * *

Me: (snores with mouth open)

Audience: Oh this is great! (grabs camera and starts taking pictures)

Me: (still snoring)


	19. Why's A Whale Floating In The Sky?

Me: Sorry for last chappie's boringness and hopefully (hopefully) this chapter is better. And guess what? It's early!

Everyone: (random wild cheers)

Audience: And guess what else? The pictures are developped!

Me: 0.o What pictures?

Audience: The ones we took when you were snor-.....Never mind...

Disclaimer: What is mine? Kingdom Hearts? No... Akyra? Yes! Kingdom Hearts? No... Akyra? Yes!...

The next morning, they hurried through breakfast and streaked in the direction of Merlin's house. They ran so fast, they managed to dodge a few stray Heartless as well.

"Hey, we should do this all the time!" Donald said.

"I don't think we'll be able to, who knows how many there'll be in the next world?" Goofy replied to him as they hopped on the moving rocks.

* * *

"Welcome back! Please make yourselves at home!" Merlin said delightfully as he saw them enter the room. 

"Merlin, look! We found another torn page!" Sora said excitedly, showing Merlin the white piece of paper.

"That's wonderful! I think Pooh will be very happy to have it retrieved." Sora smiled excitedly and didn't waste any time. In less than a minute, he was transported into Pooh's dusty little book...

* * *

"Hey, Pooh! Where are you?" Sora shouted. The new page he had entered was quite different from the other one. Instead of a lonesome log, it had a tall honey tree and tiny pond. Sora did the tour of the tree but couldn't find Pooh anywhere. While he walked around, he ran into a tiny little pink piglet. 

"Hi!" Sora said slowly to the little piglet. The piglet shivered and stuttered and ran to the other side of the tree. "Hey, wait! Come back!" he answered again, this time following the piglet. He ran to the other side and finally caught the little piglet. "What's the matter?" Sora asked.

"O-oh n-no n-n-n-n-nothing!" the piglet stuttered.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to know if you're one of Pooh's friends..."

"Pooh! O-of course I know Pooh! W-where did you see him?"

"I'm right here!" came a familiar voice from the other side of the tree. Pooh marched towards them, an empty pot of honey in his hand.

"Pooh! There you are! I found a page in another world, and I think I found one of your friends..." Sora said, holding up the little piglet.

"Piglet! Is that you?" Pooh cried as he hugged Piglet.

"P-Pooh! I w-w-was looking f-f-for you everywhere! I h-h-h-h-have a present for you!"

With that, Piglet hopped off Pooh's hands and scurried behind the tree only to come back several seconds later with a large blue balloon tied to him.

"H-h-h-here!" Piglet said happily as he gave Pooh the balloon. Pooh's face fell at the sight of the balloon.

"Do you have any honey instead?" Pooh asked sadly.

"S-s-s-sorry, Pooh, but I have n-n-none left..." Piglet replied. Sora picked up his head, trying to figure out where there might be some honey for Pooh. Then suddenly, he spotted a tiny hole in a tree where thousands of honey bees flew in and out of. There was bound to be honey there.

"Hey, Pooh! What about on top of that tree? I'm sure there's plenty of honey up there!" He said.

"How will I get up there? And how will I keep the mean honey bees from stinging me?" Pooh asked.

"Easy! I'll tie the balloon to you so you can float to the top. And I'll follow you to swat any bees in your way!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get some honey!" Pooh said excitedly.

Sora tied Pooh securely to the balloon and let him float to the top of the tree. This method worked well, except for the fact that Sora kept slipping or tripping and falling off the tree. And with him not swatting the bees, they would fly up to Pooh's balloon and pop it a countless number of times. Finally, Sora gave up.

"It's a lot harder than it looks..." He said, stretched on the ground and breathing heavily.

"Aw, and I'm still hungry..." Pooh moaned, "We need someone quick on their feet..." Sora tried hard to think about someone he knew who was quick and an expert at jumping. Finally, an idea popped in his mind.

"Hey, guys! I'll be back soon. I'm just going to get a friend who might help!" Sora said as he ran towards the exit of the page.

* * *

"Donald, you dummy! Look what you did!" Akyra screeched pointing to the ground. Something round and slightly beige was underneath the floor. And at that very moment, Sora was magically transported out of the book. 

"Hey, guys, I- What happened?" he asked watching the ground. The small beige circle squirmed and moved. Akyra explained the dilemma. It seemed that Goofy surprised Donald by the back and as a reflex, Donald shot a Gravity spell sending Goofy underneath the floor.

"Don't worry, Goofy, I'll find a way to get you out of there!" Donald said tapping the floor.

"Take your time! Gwarsh, it's so comfy down here. No wonder the shadow Heartless like it here..." They heard him mumble.

"Anyways, good luck, Donald, and I need you to come with me, Akyra." He said, grabbing her hand.

"Hey, wait! Where are you-" She was cut off when the book magically transported them inside the book once again.

* * *

"Welcome to the One Hundred Acre Wood!" Sora chanted, while showing her around. "Here, let me introduce you to Pooh..." he said again while showing her to the torn page and explaining their little problem.

* * *

"Sure! I'll be glad to help! By the way, my name's Akyra!" She said happily as Pooh told her exactly what to do. Pooh jumped in the air with glee once she said she would help him. And so began the hunt for hunny. Akyra started out pretty good and followed Pooh as he floated from branch to branch, eating a bit of hunny each time. Once he was full, she led him down to the ground where he grinned happily and thanked them both. 

"Here, take this from me as a way of saying thank you!" Pooh grinned as he placed a Mythril in Sora's hand.

"Please come back soon, and be sure to bring my friends too... And a bit more hunny, please!"

"We'll bring your friends, but we're not sure about the hunny part, yet..." Sora said, as they warped out of the book yet again.

* * *

In the outside world, Donald finally managed to get Goofy out of underground and were ready for another trip to another world... 

"Hope you don't get bored, guys, because according to my radar, the next world is quite a distance away."

"Great, just what we need. A longer trip to listen to more of Goofy's corny jokes..." Sora moaned as they flew out of the warp hole.

"Hey, don't be so mad. The next world's straight ahead!" Jiminy said, hopping onto his lap.

"No way, Jiminy. The next world is 145 kilometres away!" Donald said in a mean tone.

"Then, what is that in front of the windshield?" He said, pointing to the windshield. In front of it, they saw a huge grey ship fly next to them. Or was it a ship? Suddenly, the grey mass pounded onto the Gummi Ship. Several of them screamed as an alarm went off with a blinking red light.

"That is no ship!" Jiminy cried over the alarm, "That's Monstro!!"

When they had a better view of this 'Monstro', they were quite surprised to see that it was a great grey whale floating in the sky. It flapped its fins and flew straight towards them, its mouth growing wider and wider.

"Hold on, guys!" Donald screeched as he shielded himself with his hands. They flew right into the Monstro's mouth, screaming at the top of their lungs as it swallowed them in one gulp.

* * *

Me: Watcha watching?

Audience: (are watching the little TV screens on the buildings in Times Square. On TV of course.) Where watching Times Square on TV. They're brodcasting our pictures!

Me: Which pictures?

TVs on the buildings in Times Square: (are brodcasting pictures of authouress sleeping and drooling)

Me: 0.0


	20. Reunion With Riku

Me: HOORAY!!!! I FINALLY PUT UP THE CHAPTER!!!!! (dances the "i finally put up the chapter" dance)

Everyone: (wild cheers) (windows break) (roof caves in) (walls fall down)

Me: 0.0 wow that was alot of cheering ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing!! NOTHING!!!! Nothing, I tell you!!! Okay, maybe Akyra, but nothing else!!!!

Two young boys walked through the muddy tunnel that led to the secret place they had discovered earlier. One boy had short spiky brown hair while the other had short, silver coloured hair. The spiky haired boy looked ecstatic at the new place they had discovered under the bushes. Boulders lay near the stone walls and a curious door was at the end.

"Wow, this place is cool!" the spiky haired boy said.

"This place is great, Sora, but...." the silver haired boy said.

"But what?" young Sora asked.

"It's great now, but we'll get bored of it in a week or two. We can never find anything interesting on this island..." the boy sighed.

Young Sora nodded his head in agreement and started to carve something on the stone. Nobody could really tell what the design was. Suddenly, the silver haired boy perked up.

"That's it! Hey, Sora, let's go on our own adventures! When we grow up, let's get off this boring island and find ourselves some new better adventures!"

"Sounds great, Riku! I'd love to get off this island..." Young Sora said.

"It'll take years to think up a plan..." Young Riku sighed, "What should we do in the meantime?"

"Here's an idea! This morning a huge ship landed on our island and there was a pink haired girl about our age that came off it. Want to go see her?"

"Alright... Sure!" Young Riku exclaimed as they walked out of the secret place and made their way towards the new girl's home....

* * *

"Sora? Wake up!!!" Akyra shouted. Sora opened his eyes and gasped. Standing before him was Akyra. 

"Don't worry guys! He woke up!" she shouted to Donald and Goofy. Donald and Goofy were on the other corner of the weird area, examining their surroundings. Sora got up and took a good look around him. The place they were in looked horribly like the inside of the whale that they crashed into.

"Yup. Monstro swallowed us, all right." Jiminy said, hopping onto Sora's shoulder.

"Well, the inside of a whale isn't so bad," Goofy said cheerfully, "all we have to do is make sure the Monstro doesn't throw up. And for today's forecast, expect showers!" Out of nowhere, a few small item boxes fell from the sky and hit Goofy squarely on the head. "Heavy showers!" He corrected himself.

"Hey who's up there?" Donald quacked furiously. Among the small item boxes, they saw a young wooden boy who looked just like...

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy screeched, "We found you!" Acting like he didn't hear anything, Pinocchio rose and made his way towards a wooden ship further down, a Gummi block clutched in his hands. "Let's follow him!" Jiminy ordered.

* * *

The four fighters followed the wooden boy to the ship, where they found him talking to an older man about the Gummi block. 

"Father! We can get out of here with this!" Pinocchio said proudly, holding up the Gummi block.

"Pinocchio!!" Jiminy screeched angrily, "Why did you run off from us like that!?!" The older man, startled by Jiminy's cry, rose up and gasped at their presence.

"Sorry to startle you," Sora said politely, "but we were following Pinocchio."

"You mean you've met before? How surprising! I'm Gepetto, Pinocchio's father," the man said, shaking Sora's hand.

"We're also interested in the Gummi block your son gave you. It would help on our ship," Donald interrupted in.

"Speaking of him, where is Pinocchio?" Goofy asked. They whirled around to where Pinocchio was standing. Sadly, they found no wooden boy.

"That's okay. We'll find him. C'mon gang!" Sora ordered as the three remaining fighters followed him into a dark chamber.

When they entered the chamber, sure enough, standing before them was Pinocchio. But something was different about him. He didn't look like himself.

"Alright, Pinocchio, stop scaring us all the time! This is no time for fun and games!" Sora hollered at him.

"But Sora! I thought you liked fun and games! Or are you too cool to play now that you have the Keyblade?" A familiar voice said. Sora stared at the corner where the voice came from. Out of the shadows paced the figure of a person Sora and Akyra recognized all too well.

"Just playing with Pinocchio!" Riku said in a sly voice, picking up the wooden boy.

"What are you talking about? Never mind, did you find Kairi? Is she in trouble?" Sora asked. Riku twirled Pinocchio around, pretending to ignore him.

"I'll tell you everything I know about Kairi... Only if you catch us!" With that, Riku turned around and disappeared into the next chamber with the four determined fighters following his trail.

* * *

"He went through here!" Sora screeched, running toward one of the chambers. 

"No, I'm positive it was through here!" Donald quacked after him, choosing another chamber.

"Gwarsh and I thought he went through here," Goofy sighed, pointing to yet another chamber in the distance.

"Face it, guys, we're lost! How are we supposed to find him now?" Akyra asked, defeated.

"Through there is the bowels. Let's go check that out, for a change." Jiminy ordered. Following his demand, the four of them trailed towards what looked like a dark opening in the whale's intestines.

* * *

Riku entered a large chamber, a sly grin on his face, still clutching onto the wooden boy. He dropped Pinocchio on the ground, while wisps of shadows hovered above the lifeless puppet. 

"Still obsessed with those wretched beings you call friends?" Maleficent asked, stepping out of the darkness, "I don't see why you still care about them."

"I'm not! I'm just having fun, while teaching them a lesson, of course." Riku answered with attitude.

"Really? How amusing..." Maleficent said, watching Riku run towards the opening of the chamber. "Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless will always prey upon it." She finished.

"Go mind your own business, will you?" He shouted to the cloud of smoke Maleficent vanished behind. He paused for a second, listening to the sound of footsteps and familiar voices growing louder, a new evil smile shaping on his face.

* * *

The four friends entered the chamber in question, relieved but still angry to see Riku standing before them. 

"Okay, Riku, you had your fun! Now where's Pinocchio?" Sora asked in a severe tone.

"May I ask you a question, Sora? Why do you care so much about a lifeless puppet?" Riku asked, confusing the four friends even further.

"Riku, I've had it with your games! Where's Pinocchio?" Sora ordered once again, pointing his Keyblade to Riku. Riku stared down to the glistening weapon he was being threatened with.

"It seems as if all you're interested in is running around and showing off that Keyblade. Do you even still want to save Kairi?" Sora turned pale for a minute, but still carefully considered his answer:

"I...do..." He said silently. All too suddenly, Pinocchio's shrill cry filled the whale's insides.

"Pinocchio's in trouble! Hurry gang!" Jiminy screeched. And so the four fighters ran towards where the wooden boy's cry came from, Riku trailing after them.

* * *

Me: Now all we could do is hope that the next one won't take so long... 

Audience: Hope? HOPE!?! You left us here for two months!!!!!

Me: :( I'm so sorry!!!!!!! (cries)

Audience: No matter how much you cry, we won't feel sorry for you!!!


	21. Eww Whale Intestines

Me: I FINALLY updated!!!! After a long hard semester of dumb technology class homework, it's finally all done!! YAY!!! Enjoy the chapter. I made it extra long!

Audience: Extra long? Oooohhhh...(runs to chapter)

Disclaimer: I own Akyra! That's it! Nothing else, do you hear me? NOTHING!

They arrived in the bowels of Monstro's body, and gasped at the sight they saw. It had the form of a jellyfish, or should I say a deformed Heartless jellyfish. But what concerned them the most was the cage near the bottom of its body where they spotted an imprisoned wooden boy.

"We've got to save him!" Sora yelled.

"I'll help," Riku said, which was very odd since he was against them a few seconds before. With a nod of approval, Sora jumped towards the 'jellyfish' followed by Donald and Riku. Before doing the same, Akyra walked over to Goofy, who was shaking all over.

"Are you... alright?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yup, it's just that.... Gwarsh... I've had bad memories with jellyfish..." He shuddered.

"Aw, don't worry. Everyone has to face their fears someday. Plus, your friends are here with you and we'll always be there to help. Don't you forget that!" She said.

"Umm... okay." he replied, still shuddering.

"Now, let's go fight this deformed jellyfish! The guys are hogging all the fun!" So they jumped off the tiny ledge they were standing on and joined the fight.

The battle continued until Riku whacked the jellyfish one last time, thus destroying it. But instead of falling to the floor like every other boss they have encountered, the jellyfish jumped through a hole in the middle of the room which the four friends never noticed before. Without wasting any time, Riku pursued it and jumped into the hole right after it.

"Don't you ever feel that being with Riku is like an endless game of tag?" Sora asked them. The rest of them nodded in agreement, too tired to answer as they, yes again, followed Riku down the hole.

The four friends ended up in the mouth, where they met Gepetto a few moments ago. Speaking of Gepetto, that's exactly what caught their eye when they fell down the hole. They spotted Gepetto begging to Riku, who held Pinocchio in his arms.

"Please, give me back my son!" Gepetto pleaded.

"Can't do that. This puppet has something I want." Riku sneered.

"He is not a puppet! He's my son! Please give him back!" Gepetto pleaded again.

"Not too many puppets have hearts. That's why I want him. Maybe his heart can help someone who's lost theirs." Riku said slyly, shifting his eyes towards the four friends.

"Kairi? Is that what you mean?" Sora asked.

"Why would you care?" Riku said as he jumped on the planks of wood and disappeared into a smaller hole near the top of the mouth. The four friends ran towards Gepetto and tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry, mister Gepetto sir, we'll go after Pinocchio!" Goofy reassured him.

"Yeah, we'll get him back!" Donald agreed.

"Thank you, all of you. Let me get you in on a little secret my own father taught me." The four friends gathered around to listen to what he was going to say.

"Before jumping," he started, "try to do a flip in the air. It will bring you a lot higher than jumping normally."

"Thanks, Gepetto!" Sora said as he ran towards the planks with the rest of the fighters right by his side.

* * *

They entered the little hole Riku went into earlier. But, the moment they had set foot into the new chamber, a strong wind tried to pull them towards the top, as if it was trying to suck them in. Luckily, three of them were able to withstand the wind, but Donald kept getting pulled up by it. Akyra grabbed Donald's foot right on time. 

"You'd better not let go!!" Donald screeched, while flying back and forth. With caution, the three of them climbed the tiny platforms that stuck on the wall. But the winds kept pulling on them harder and harder until finally sending all of them flying to the top.

They landed on yet another platform but the area looked different. Yellow-green acid oozed from the walls and dripped to the floor as it dissolved everything that got in its way. They were in Monstro's stomach. On another lower platform stood Riku who seemed to be staring at a lifeless Pinocchio.

"Riku, Let go of Pinocchio!" Sora yelled. Riku turned towards him, the same evil smirk on his face.

"A puppet that has lost its heart... it may hold the key to helping Kairi. Why don't you join me? The three of us can save Kairi together!"

"Never!" Sora and Akyra both yelled at once, drawing their weapons.

"You would rather fight me? Over a puppet with no heart?" Riku said louder.

"Heart or no heart, at least he has a conscience. And you might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!" Sora said triumphly.

Riku sighed in disappointment. "You leave me no choice."

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio wake up!" The familiar voice ran through the stomach's walls. The four friends whirled around to where Pinocchio stood, watching Jiminy run after him.

"Jiminy... I'm not going to make it..." the puppet sighed. Suddenly, his nose grew longer like it had in Traverse Town when he lied. "Would you look at that? I guess I'm okay!" Pinocchio said merrily while jumping for joy. A sudden rumble startled this happy moment. The four friends turned around and saw the same deformed jellyfish they had fought off earlier. Goofy shuddered in horror.

"Don't forget what I said!" Akyra reassured him.

* * *

"You think you can shoot poison at me, you overly stuffed jellyfish?? You messed with the wrong duck!!" Donald yelled occasionally. 

"Where's Goofy?" Sora yelled over the noise.

Akyra checked the platform they were on earlier and glimpsed a site of Goofy, who was still shaking. She was about to run towards him when the deformed jellyfish suddenly struck all three of them at once, sending them flying across the whale's stomach. The strangest thing happened after that. The jellyfish stopped attacking and fell to the floor as a crystal blue heart flew from its torso. Once the dust from the floor cleared up, the three friends spotted Goofy standing next to the jellyfish with his shield raised above him.

"You did it Goofy! You faced your fears!" Akyra yelled.

"Goofy? You did that? Then I'm proud of you!" Donald screeched from the other side of the stomach.

"Yeah, I did do it." Goofy said, still shaking.

"Come on! Let's bring Pinocchio back." Jiminy said.

"Wait a minute! Where did Riku go?" Sora asked frantically. He scanned the whole area but Riku was nowhere to be found.

"We'll find him..." Akyra said slowly as they paced towards the mouth where Gepetto waited.

* * *

Riku walked back and forth in the pirate's headquarters, thinking. He finally stopped and stared at his poor friend lying lifelessly on the couch. Kairi had stayed like that for the longest time, as if she was sleeping. 

"So Kairi's a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked.

"Correct," Maleficent answered.

"And her heart was..." Riku said, his voice fading until it was barely heard.

"Taken by the Heartless," Maleficent answered again.

Riku continued to stare at lifeless Kairi, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Is there any way I can save her?" He asked frantically.

Maleficent thought for a moment, until a sly grin broke across her face.

"There are at least seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. You may find a way to recover Kairi's heart. But, are you willing to gather up all the Princesses?"

Riku stared again at Kairi. "Yes..."

"Now, I will grant you a marvellous gift. The power to control the Heartless!" The moment those words were pronounced, a dark green light hovered before him and swirled in many directions. He looked at Kairi for one last time.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon."

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Akyra complained. 

"No, for the 56th time!" Donald screeched.

"I know what you need! A nice, corny Goofy joke!" Goofy said.

"Yippeeee!!" Akyra squealed.

"Aw, not again!" Donald screeched. And the Gummi Ship soared through the night sky in Traverse Town's direction...

* * *

Me: Wow, were already in Atlantica? That's pretty good for a six-month-old story!

Audience: You're proud? YOU'RE PROUD???? You're proud of not updating for almost three months and leaving us here alone and anticipating the next chapter!?!

Me: 0.0 I never said any of that

Audience: I f this happens again, we will get you...(takes out torches and pitchforks)

Me: (gulp)


	22. Under The Sea

Me: HA! I updated in less than a week. Take that audience!

Audience: Aw, man... (puts down pitchforks and torches)

Disclaimer: (is singing the 'I don't own Kingdom Hearts' song) You heard me! I don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

"Ooh! A new world! I've been waiting all day for this moment to arrive!" Akyra said excitedly. 

"Is it normal for the next world to be an ocean?" Sora asked while pointing to the windshield.

"Ummm......no. But you're forgetting that I am a magician," Donald said, "so I can transform us into sea creatures."

"Can I trust you NOT to turn me into a turtle?" Sora asked sarcastically again. Donald glared at him and pressed the 'eject' button and soon enough, the four of them were sent plunging into the ocean.

* * *

Akyra opened her eyes and gazed around, like she normally does when she enters an unknown area. Not daring to look down and see what Donald had turned her into, she watched what the rest of them were transformed into instead. A green mass suddenly pelted in her direction. 

"Gwarsh, this thing is hard to steer," Goofy, or actually turtle Goofy, said. Akyra turned the other way and spotted Sora who was transformed into a.... a..... well she didn't know what. Hardly able to contain her laughter, she laughed as hard as she could.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Sora asked.

"You have a blue shark thingy sticking out of your back!! Hahaha!" She kept on laughing.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I had a PINK shark thingy sticking out of MY back!" He screeched.

She stopped laughing and looked down. It was true. She looked just like Sora except for the fact that she was dark pink instead of blue. Her body looked normal until the waist. After the waist looked like a large fin. And, like Sora mentioned, a dark pink shark thingy was sticking out of her back.

"At least your transformation was better than mine!" Donald pointed out. He was right. Donald looked like he was half octopus, half duck.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and hide! I think someone's coming!" Goofy warned as he darted under a rock. The rest of them hid under other rocks and waited for the mysterious presence to pass.

"Ariel! Don't leave me behind! Wait up!" A voice with a slanted french accent said.

"Sorry, Sebastian, but you'll have to hurry up!" Another female voice yelled. Peeking out of their hiding place, the friends saw a young mermaid swim rapidly past them followed by a small yellow fish with blue stripes and a red crab. Behind them, the friends also saw about five or six Heartless swimming after them.

"They're in trouble! We've go to help them!" Sora ordered. The four of them emerged out of their hiding places and slashed the Heartless without mercy. Once the Heartless had been defeated, the young mermaid swam out of hiding and approached them cautiously.

"Thank you for saving us, umm.... Have we ever seen you around here?" She asked.

"Ariel, be careful! There's something different about them," the small fish said as he darted in circles until finally hiding under her hair.

"Now that you mention it, Flounder, they do look a bit different. Where are you from?" She asked politely.

"We're from an ocean very far from here and.... umm... we're not really... used to these waters." Sora said nervously.

"I understand. Would you like us to show you around? I'm Ariel, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Goofy said, still trying to stay in place.

"The King will not like this; no he won't like it at all!" the crab said.

"Relax! Besides, I'm not a child anymore! I'm 16 years old!" Ariel said rather evilly to the crab.

"I know, Ariel, but I care for your safety..." the crab answered.

"Look out!" Flounder yelled as he pointed to the distance. Many squid-like Heartless were floating towards them.

"Let's go to the castle! They won't dare attack us there!" Ariel cried at her new friends. She led the way to the castle and the friends had no other choice than to follow her there.

* * *

The Heartless kept on pursuing them, even when they had reached the castle. 

"What do we do know?" Flounder asked, shaking violently. Just then, a flash of bright light darted towards the Heartless, destroying them in less than a second.

"I will not have those creatures near my palace!" Screeched a low, gruff voice.

"Daddy!" Ariel said excitedly and swam towards a bearded merman.

"Ariel, when will you listen? I already told you, it's dangerous out there!" The king scolded.

"But, I'm fine now, daddy," Ariel said sadly.

"Oh really? Then who are they!?!" The king asked, pointing to the four fighters.

"They helped me fight off those things! They only look different because they are from an ocean far away.

"Yep. We came to find and seal the Keyhole!" Goofy said happily. Sora, Donald and Akyra glared at Goofy.

"The what?" Ariel asked.

"There is no such thing!" the king bellowed, "Certainly not here!!"

"But daddy," Ariel begged.

"No, Ariel. I will not tolerate any more of this foolishness!" Ariel turned around and left the palace almost immediately with tears in her eyes and her new friends following right behind.

* * *

"Where exactly are you taking us, Ariel?" Akyra asked. 

"Somewhere secret, but don't tell anybody," she said as they approached a mountain of huge boulders. Ariel pushed one of the rocks out of her way to reveal a narrow space. She let her new friends enter before putting the boulder back in its place. They followed the narrow tunnel until they came into what looked like a small cavern. The sides were decorated with shelves which contained various things like a music box, a collection of forks and knives and a globe.

"This is my secret place where I keep all the wonderful things me and Flounder find. I think it's all from the outside world. Someday, I'm sure of it, that I will see the outside world. And not just the outside world! All the other worlds too!" She confessed.

"We know how you feel," Akyra said.

"Hey, Ariel, where did you find all these things?" Donald asked.

"Everywhere. But mostly at the sunken ship," she answered, "let me take you there!" She rose and swam towards the exit and pushed the boulder open. The rest of them exited her secret place and helped her shut the secret area before making their way towards the sunken ship.

* * *

"Here we are!" Ariel said proudly as they finally entered a new area. The four friends couldn't help but stare at the sight. It was a huge area with one of the biggest ships they had ever seen. Since the ship was old and underwater, most of the windows were broken and some of the planks of wood had fallen off but it was still a spectacular sight. 

"Come on, let's go inside!" Ariel said excitedly. The inside was no different from the outside. Except for the fact that some of the barrels still stood there, empty. "I usually find things in treasure chests," Ariel pointed out.

"You mean like this one?" Sora called from the other side of the room. He picked it up and brought it to them.

"Yup. Just like that. Let's open it!" Ariel said. Sora tapped the treasure chest twice and watched as it swung open and disappeared. A crystal trident was inside the chest. It was a little small but it was decorated with beautiful crystals.

"Ooh.... Pretty," Ariel and Akyra said together.

"Hey, I know just where to put it! Follow me!" Ariel ordered. But, the moment they exited the ship, they were stopped by a massive grey and white shark.

"SHARK!!! RUN!" Flounder shrieked. The five of them swam as fast as they're fins can take them as the shark pursued them.

"He's too small to fit through the exit! Come on, let's go there!" Sora ordered. They followed Sora's orders and swam through the exit. He was right. The shark tried to follow them but got stuck in the small opening.

"Wow that was easy!" Flounder said happily while sticking his tongue out to the shark.

* * *

They had finally arrived at Ariel's secret place. She swam towards one of the walls and pointed to an engraving in the wall. Surprisingly, the engraving was shaped exactly like the crystal trident they found moments ago. 

"Here, Sora, put it in here!" She exclaimed. Sora took out the crystal trident carefully and slowly placed it in the engraving...

* * *

Me: Cliffhanger ending!!! Mwahahahaha!! I'm so evil! (struts around)

Audience: Will Sora end up with Kairi at the end of this ficcy?

Me: (stops struting) Grrrrrrr....... What did you say!?!?!?!?

Audience: (whimpers)

Akyra: (whispers to audience) Psssssstt! She hates Sora/Kairi pairings...

Me: I hate Sora/Kairi pairings, you fool!!!!! Why do you think I created Akyra? To put an obstacle between Sora and Kairi!!! And also to see how far my imagination can really go...

Akyra: Aw! (feels special)


	23. The Pink Shark Lady

Me: Happy belated birthday, Akyra!  
Audience: It was Akyra's birthday?  
Me: Yep! January 7, 2003, was the day my friend introduced me to Kingdom Hearts! And that night, Akyra was created! Did you know that before calling her Akyra, her name was Teeana?  
Audience: (trying hard not to laugh) Teeana? Heehee...  
Akyra: HEY!! (ish mad)  
Me: Don't be mad, Akyra! I got you a birthday present! One of the longest chapters I've ever written!  
Akyra: Heehee!!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just Akyra! Heehee...Teeana...Heehee...

The sea was quiet for a moment when Sora placed the crystal trident in the engraving. The only thing that could have been heard was the sea's light currents hitting the seaweed lightly, causing it to flap with the current. The six friends watched the trident in awe, waiting to see what was going to happen next, until suddenly a booming, growling voice filled the silent ocean.

"Ariel, you have disobeyed me again!" King Triton shrieked at his daughter. Apparently, he had discovered the grotto and entered it while everyone else was preoccupied with the crystal trident. It looked as if he was prepared to shriek again until he spotted the trident fastened into the engraving on the wall. Suddenly, his fiery eyes filled with even more anger as he lifted his glowing trident and struck the crystal one.

"Daddy, please! Don't do it!" Ariel cried while trying to stop her father from striking the trident. The king didn't listen to her. He struck the crystal trident once again and watched as it broke into many pieces, shining in the ocean's light as they hit the ground. Ariel watched all this and swam rapidly out of the grotto, tears forming in her eyes. King Triton spun around to face Sora and glared at him, new anger forming in his eyes.

"Young man, you're not from another ocean! You're from another world! Then you must be the Keyblade master, aren't you!" Triton shrieked after him.

"How did you know...?" Sora said in a low tone of voice.

"You may fool Ariel but you can't fool me! As the Key Bearer, you should already know that you must not become involved in the affairs of other worlds!"

"I knew that, but..." Sora continued, until he was interrupted by the king.

"But nothing! You have violated this principle! The Keyblade master can only bring ruin and despair and shatters peace wherever he goes!"

"Sora's not like that,"Donald said in Sora's defence.

"I thank you for saving my daughter but there is no room in my ocean for you, your friends or your Key!!" King Triton boomed one last time before exiting the grotto. Sora sat on a curved boulder and gazed at his key with a sad expression on his face.

"Aw, Sora, you know King Triton's wrong about you?" Goofy said as he patted Sora on his back.

"And besides," Donald quacked, "there are two legends concerning the Keyblade master. The first one is what King Triton had said and the second is that the Key Bearer brought peace and harmony among the worlds that were shrouded in darkness!"

"How do I know which one I am?" Sora asked sadly.

"You're the one who brings peace and harmony," Akyra said, "we should know. All you've ever done was good and you saved quite a few worlds from the Heartless. We should know because we're your friends." Sora picked up his head and smiled at his friends.

"Thanks you guys..." he muttered as he tried to hug all three of them in one shot.

* * *

"Where could Ariel be?" Akyra asked, searching a cave she had just discovered. 

"Who knows? But it would have been better if she hinted where she was going before taking off like that," Sora replied.

"Can you blame her? Imagine your own father destroying your privacy and getting mad at you, honestly! Has your mother ever done that to you, Akyra? Mine did, that's for sure..." Donald said. Akyra jerked up at the mention of her mom.

"Um... I sort of never knew my mom..." She replied.

Donald watched her for a moment and said, "Oh... sorry. I didn't know..."

"That's okay! If I've never known her than I have no clue who she is, right? So I can't miss her..." Akyra explained.

"Hey! I think I hear voices!" Goofy mentioned. The three of them swam to where Goofy was and listened closely. They heard the familiar voice of Ariel but they also heard a new voice. It was sort of clammy and stuffed up. The four fighters decided to investigate and swam towards King Triton's palace.

"Well, well. It looks like we have company!" A large octopus woman said as they entered the throne room.

"Sorry, but you're too late!" She said as she vanished in a puff of dark smoke, laughing maniacally.

"She....has the...trident. You must....get it back..." King Triton said in a weak voice.

"Come with me," Ariel ordered, "I know where she is!" She swam off at lightning speed. The four friends had no other choice than to follow her and listen to the problem.

* * *

"I get it now!" Donald said, "Ursula the octopus used you to get the trident and rule Atlantica, right?" 

"Right. And it's entirely my fault. The least I can do is help you get the trident back..." She said sadly, "Well, here we are!" She said guiding them into a pinkish purple cave. The walls were a shade of purple and the ceiling was ornate with pink ribbons. Of course, the pink reminded Akyra of how much she hates her pink shark-thingy transformation. While she constantly, complained to Donald about his transformation skills, the sight of the next room cut her off. The room's walls were a dark shade of pink, just like Akyra's hair. A small makeup set and a mirror were perched on a makeup table where Ursula sat, adjusting her makeup.

"Give us the trident, Ursula!" Sora ordered, whipping out his Keyblade. Ursula merely smiled evilly at them and rose from her chair, her black tentacles waving in every direction. She laughed evilly as she threw a potion bottle in her cauldron and summoned dark magic.

"Hit the cauldron!" Ariel shrieked, "Attack her cauldron!"

* * *

"It's not working!!!!" Donald screeched as he tried to attack the cauldron. 

"There's got to be another way!" Akyra answered, as she swam swiftly trying to dodge one of Ursula's eels.

"Why don't you stop and think, pink shark lady! Hahahaha," Ursula laughed loudly. Akyra stopped abruptly and spun around to face the laughing monster, fire forming in her crystal blue eyes.

"What did you just call me?" She growled.

"A pink shark lady," Ursula answered. Without warning, Akyra swam rapidly towards the purple octopus and attacked her over and over without stopping.

"Nobody calls me a PINK SHARK LADY!!!! MUSH!!!" She screeched as she kept on hitting Ursula with every little bit of strength she had. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ariel watched all this in awe. When Akyra finally slowed down, Ursula retreated and stopped her cauldron from attacking.

"Call me pink again and I'll really fix you!" Akyra threatened.

"You fools will never stop me!" Ursula said, still blown away by Akyra. She created a tiny portal and disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Where do you think she went?" Akyra asked, out of breath.

"I don't know, but that was AWESOME!!" Sora cried.

"There's no time for that, we must find Ursula before she destroys all of Atlantica!" Ariel ordered as she swam off with the four friends close behind her.

* * *

"Face it, Ariel. We've looked all around the sea twice already and there is no sign of Ursula," Sebastian the crab said in despair. 

"We can't stop now, Sebastian. We just have to find her! Who knows what sort of damage she could cause!?!" Ariel moaned.

"Maybe she's somewhere where we didn't check," Goofy suggested.

"Goofy, don't be silly. We've checked everywhere!" Donald said slightly irritated.

"We didn't look in that cave," Goofy said pointing to a tiny cave in the wall.

"What are the chances she's in there!?!" Donald yelled, this time really irritated.

"We'll never know if we don't check..." Sora said slowly as he leaded the rest of them into the mysterious cave.

The moment they entered the cave and gazed at the unbearable sight before them, most of them wished they hadn't listened to Sora. They had found Ursula, yes, but how they found her was another story. She had grown almost fifty times her original size and was almost too big to fit in the whole ocean.

"You insolent fools! I rule the seas now," she bellowed, "All its spoils and itself shall bow to my power! Hahahaha!!!" The five friends swam their own ways and prepared to fight the vicious monster.

* * *

"She's too strong!!" Donald screeched. 

"You think everybody's too strong!" Akyra screeched a response over the noise of the battle.

"Behold my power, pink shark lady!" Ursula yelled as she dealt a blow towards Akyra. That did it. Akyra couldn't take it anymore.

"THAT DOES IT!!! NO ONE CALLS ME PINK!! MUSH, MUSH, MUSH!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she, once again, let out her anger by attacking Ursula left, right and center non-stop.

* * *

Time passed as the battle raged on. Finally, Sora had dealt the winning blow and as Ursula shrank more and more, she let go of the trident that Ariel caught before it sank to the depths of the ocean along with the sea witch. 

"Daddy, I'm sorry..." Ariel apologized to her father once they had returned to his throne.

"It's okay, Ariel. It's my fault, too," he confessed, "I shouldn't have been so protective of you. I had to destroy the crystal trident for your safety. You see, Ariel, the crystal trident had the power to reveal the Keyhole. I've believed for so long that the Keyhole was highly dangerous and I was afraid you might get hurt," the king concluded while hugging his daughter. "Key Bearer, will you please fulfill my request and seal the Keyhole?"

"Sure. That was all we wanted to do ever since we got here!" Sora said, relieved, as he followed Ariel who was swimming towards her grotto.

Once they had all entered the grotto, King Triton held up his mighty trident and placed it in the engraving where the crystal trident once was.

"My trident also holds the power to reveal the Keyhole," King Triton said, smiling at Sora. Once the trident was fully placed into the engraving, the water around it seemed to bubble up thus hiding the trident. But soon enough the bubbles dissipated and the marvellous outline of the Keyhole was visible upon the grotto's walls. Sora lifted his Keyblade triumphly and watched as the same ray of light hit the Keyhole, and listened to the same locking sound he has grown so used to.

"Tell me, Sora. What is your world like?" Ariel asked curiously.

"Oh yeah, umm... We're very sorry for lying to you," he said, as the three remaining friends nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's alright. Besides, I just know I'll see other worlds someday. Maybe even your own!" Ariel said happily as she twirled around in circles...

* * *

"Hey, Jiminy! You don't know what you missed!" Donald said ecstatically as he sat in the driver's seat. Jiminy had stayed in the Gummi ship the whole time they were in Atlantica. But the moment Donald approached his seat, he tripped over a bump on the floor. 

"JIMINY!! You were supposed to take care of the ship while we were gone!" He screeched at the tiny cricket.

"Hey, it's not my fault dolphins keep jumping out of the water thinking this is food and trying to take a bite out of it!" Jiminy argued back.

"Meh, who cares? Just take your places everybody!" Donald pressed on a few buttons and momentarily, the ship lifted of the ground and flew at lightning speed towards the sky.

"Do you think Ariel will ever get out of her world and explore other ones, just like us?" Sora asked in awe.

"If she does, I hope she finds mine..." Akyra responded sadly.

"Aw, come off it, Akyra. You know we'll find your hometown someday! We just need to look harder," he reassured her.

"I know, but still..." She said slowly while gazing to the night sky.

* * *

"Hey, everybody! How was the new world?" Yuffie greeted them when they arrived in Traverse Town. 

"It was very wet..." Goofy answered.

"Eww... Anyways, Akyra, Merlin wants to see you. Only you," she said. "Oh, okay then. Thanks Yuffie," Akyra answered as she made her way to the Third District.

"Merlin! Are you here? It's Akyra! You wanted to see me for something?" Akyra yelled as she entered the deserted room.

"Yes, yes, I did want to see you for something," Merlin said as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere holding a very old book and a Keychain. "As the bearer of the Staffblade, you must have many questions regarding it. Like, for example, how can it control you to do its good bidding and how can it force you into dreams? Well, here's your answer!" Merlin said very ecstatically as he handed Akyra the mysterious book.

"Thank you! Will this really answer all my questions?" She asked as she flipped through the book.

"Not every single answer. You see, that book was entirely written by me. I enjoy the mysteries of magic and the mystery behind the Staffblade is my most challenging subject yet. I recorded all its habits and magical behaviours in this lonesome book. There are still many mysteries behind this particular weapon that even I don't know of. Perhaps you can find out more for me?"

"I'm sure I will. Thanks again, this book will probably clear most of my thoughts!" She said happily.

"Use it to goodwill... Oh and before you go, please give this Keychain to Sora. Hopefully it will force him to use a little more magic on his journey," Merlin said sarcastically.

"Sure, I will. Sora really needs a lesson in magic..." She said as she took the Keychain. Merlin merely chuckled and disappeared instantly. Before leaving, Akyra heard his voice echo off the walls.

"Be aware of yourself on your next adventure, Staff Bearer. New discoveries will come your way. Discoveries of things you've forgotten......" Akyra stepped out of the tiny hut and thought for a minute.

"Things I've forgotten? What does he mean?" She thought out loud as she paced towards the empty hotel where Sora, Donald and Goofy were waiting for her, her head filled with confused thoughts...

* * *

Me: OMG!!! We're in Halloween Town! FINALLY!! I thought this time would never come!  
Audience: What's so special about Halloween Town?  
Me: (cough cough) Ahem (cough)  
Audience: She's coughing!!! That means that there is something!! Something!!  
Akyra: Ooh, I can't wait!  
Audience: Heehee.... Teeana...  
Akyra: Grr... (blasts audiencewith a Thundara spell)


	24. The Queen Of Halloween

Me: (lasts homework) e Homework! Never shall you stop me from writing! I am very sorry about the delay. Grr to you homework!  
Audience: ...where... WERE YOU!  
Me: Anyways, the huge surprise you've all been dreading is in this chappie! How's that for a way of saying I'm sorry?  
Everyone: YAY! (runs for chapter)  
P.S. Sorry it's pitifully short!

Disclaimer: No I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Akyra, and I'm proud! (waves proud flag)

"A magic book, eh? He couldn't have given you anything more useful?" Donald asked with attitude.

"This IS useful. Look," Akyra started, while flipping through the book, "Chapters one and two mainly focus on swords, staves, shields and Keyblades!"

"What about the rest of the 58 chapters?"

"Why, on the Staffblade, of course!" She squealed in delight as she continued reading a bit. "Ooh, soon I'll be able to read memories, control dreams and if I become really powerful, I'll even be able to predict the future!"

"I can predict the future right now. We'll be landing in a world that looks really creepy..." Goofy shuddered. Sora and Akyra gazed out the window and Akyra almost gasped at the sight.

"What's wrong, Akyra? You scared? Oooooooh..." Donald kidded around.

"I'm not scared. It's just that this world... looks so... weird..." She said slowly, still gazing at the world, her head was swimming in thoughts as they landed.

* * *

Donald shivered as they walked on the cold grey ground. This world was very different from the others. Thick fog covered the ground lightly and the buildings and mountains cast huge creepy shadows that shivered with the wind. Cemeteries were everywhere, which means tombstones at every corner. 

"How about we get out of here?" Donald shuddered.

"Or, why don't you design us some scary costumes, so, if someone scares us, we'll scare them right back!" Goofy suggested.

"Oh, alright..." Donald shivered, again. He shut his eyes and zapped all four of them at once with a yellow light. Once he finished disguising them, the four friends opened their eyes and almost gasped at what they saw.

"Donald? Why am I floating ten feet off the ground? And why are you guys invisible!" Sora asked in horror.

"We're ghosts, silly," Donald confessed.

"What? Are you kidding? I have a better idea. Why don't you let me design our costumes with the help of this magic book?" Akyra asked. Donald glared at her (even though they couldn't see it) and returned them to their normal form. "Now, let's see... Ah, yes! Costume design..." Akyra read. While muttering under her breath, she lifted her Staffblade, pointed it at Goofy, and zapped him with a strange blue light. Goofy was immediately transformed into a tall zombie, wearing a stovepipe hat and a tiny pumpkin for a nose.

"I like your style, Akyra!" Goofy said happily, gazing at his costume.

"Why, thank you, Goofy. Donald, since you love ghosts so much, why don't you be one! I'll mummify you too, so we can see you," she said as she zapped Donald into a mummified ghost.

"Alright, Sora, your turn! Let's see, how about a vampire!" She zapped Sora and moments later, he was wearing all grey, his face as white as paper with a little pumpkin stuck on his hair.

"Great! Now, all I have to do is me then we're all set!" She said happily as she tapped herself and her costume appeared. She resembled Sora except for a tiny skeleton head on her own head with the bottom jaw missing and she wore grey boots that arrived to her knees instead of her normal running shoes.

"I guess we're ready! Onward, gang!" Sora squealed, pacing towards the shadowy buildings with the rest of them following suit.

They walked for a long time until finally coming upon a tiny circular area with an old guillotine standing in the corner. A large group of witches, vampires, werewolves and clowns on a unicycle seemed to be celebrating a delightful event in the corner of the square.

"What do you think they're celebrating about?" Goofy asked curiously.

"Well, since they're continuously chanting 'This is Halloween, This is Halloween' I'm guessing that they're celebrating Halloween," Sora answered in an obvious tone of voice. Suddenly, near the group of celebrators, a large horde of Heartless appeared before them and floated around the stage.

"Heartless! Ghost Heartless!" Donald screeched in horror. The Heartless waved their white foggy hands and started attacking the crowd.

"Get them!" Sora ordered. The four friends scattered and ran on stage, each cornering their own Heartless and destroying as much as they could. When the last Heartless was defeated, the gang looked at the crowd, who were gazing up at them in awe. The spectators had a weird expression on their faces, sort of like a mixture of shock and relief. Finally, a tiny two-faced man with a tall hat stepped forward.

"You destroyed the Heartless? Thank you, very much, but it wasn't necessary," he said.

"Wasn't necessary?" Sora replied, "Those Heartless could have stolen your hearts in less that a minute!"

"You've misunderstood, young man. You see, these Heartless are controlled by us, instead of the other way around. We've created a special method to make Heartless do whatever we command. In this case, dance during our celebration!"

"B-but they attacked you! Didn't you control them so they won't attack you?" Akyra asked curiously.

"Yes, well, you know, sometimes inventions don't work," the tiny man continued.

"You can say that again!" Another voice said. A tall, thin, skeleton man was running in their direction. "Mayor," he started, "the Heartless are completely out of our control! They might start attacking our spectators!"

"Not to worry, Jack. These kids and these two animals destroyed them like that!" The mayor snapped his fingers the moment he finished speaking.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Jack continued, "you defeated the Heartless all by yourselves! We must know your names!"

"I'm Sora," Sora started while pointing to his friends as he went along, "and she's Akyra. And they are Donald and Goofy."

"Pleasure. I am Jack Skellington. How about coming over for some tea and tell me more about yourselves?" Jack offered. The four friends nodded and followed Jack as he led the way. Akyra leaned over to Sora and murmured under her breath, "Are you sure it's safe to have tea with a skeleton?"

"Well, he did offer it. And refusing an offer is impolite" he answered.

"Sure, but this place is freaking me out, are sure about these people?"

"He seems nice. Give it a rest, Akyra. We're heroes, remember? We can defend ourselves if we need it!" He playfully pushed Akyra to the side, like he always used to do when they were younger. Finally, the road grew shorter and shorter as they arrived at Jack's house.

"Make yourselves at home," Jack said merrily as he let them in. His house was fairly tiny but what caught their eyes was a huge oil painting of a scary-looking girl in the central room. The picture was about twice Goofy's size. The woman painted on it had very short black hair that was flying all over the place and her face was as pale as paper.

"Wow," Goofy said in awe, "who's that?"

"That is Queen Amelia," Jack started, "she was the queen of Halloween. Not really the queen but she was always the main event at every year's Halloween. She knew so much and did so much for our town. Everybody loved her, even the vampires. She was the greatest thing that ever happened to us."

"If she was so great and so kind, then what happened to her?" Donald asked. Jack sighed sadly and took a deep breath.

"Oogie Boogie, the most hated thing in our town, lost control of his hatred and killed her one fateful night while she was saving her daughter who was playing nearby. It was a very sad day for everyone..." Jack sighed again, and the rest of them could see that that subject was very emotional for him. "It happened 11 years ago," he managed to choke, "since it happened..."

"Where is her daughter if she saved her?" Akyra asked curiously.

"Nobody knows. We all presume that Oogie killed her as well. Only Oogie knows what really happened. Only Oogie remembers her name... But I'm sure this subject is very boring for you. Shall I get started on the tea?" Jack asked, his happy mood returning as he strolled off to another room followed by Donald and Goofy. Sora followed as well but noticed that Akyra wasn't behind him. He whirled around and saw her staring at the picture of Queen Amelia, as if she was in deep concentration.

"Akyra, are you coming?" He asked. Akyra nodded her head. "Yeah, I am," she said. As she followed Sora to the other room, she glanced again at that picture. "This world is really freaking me out, and that picture just about proves it..." she thought.

* * *

Me: So? Isn't that a great surprise?  
Everyone: That's it? That's the surprise?  
Me: Yeah! I added a bit of history! Isn't it great?  
Everyone: (grabs torches and pitchforks)  
Me: I'd better start running 0.0

Important notice: Sadly, won't let me keep the numbers 2003 at the end of my user name so I will be changing it to " Akyra101 " is that okay with everyone? D


	25. The Search For Memory

Me: I have four things to say...  
Everyone: (pokes me with a pitchfork) Get on with it!  
Me: (sigh) I'm sorry I've been too busy to update sooner, dumb technology homework... The second thing is that this chapter ish pitifully short. That's because tomorrow, I will update again, for sure. The third thing is that my new username is KH-Akyra; goddessof2003 ish no more!  
Everyone: And the fourth thing!  
Me: I've been getting reviews asking the same question so, I will (shudder) answer that only question...  
Audience: You're going to answer a question? (grabs notebook)  
Me: Yes... The answer is: Akyra's hometown is NOT Halloween Town. She only knows that her hometown is haunted...haunted by Heartless! And it's spooky...spooky that she knows this!  
Audience: 0.0 That asnwers a lot of questions...  
Me: That's IT! No more questions shall I answer! Enjoy the lame chappie!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Akyra ish mine. And I guess I also own Queen Amelia

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon telling Jack about their stories and adventures as they had their tea (an eyeball was floating in their tea; Donald got scared, naturally). They were about to leave and hardly set one foot outside when they spotted the mayor running towards them, apparently out of breath. 

"The Heartless..." he sputtered while taking deep breaths "are out of control... Dr. Finkelstein... lab...new creation..."

"Dr. Finkelstein knows why this is happening to the Heartless?" Jack asked the mayor, who finally caught his breath.

"Yes! He wants you at his laboratory right this instant!"

"Really? How marvellous! How would you like to meet our expert scientist?" Jack asked the four friends. They nodded in curiosity to know who this great 'Dr. Finkelstein' was.

"Perfect! You can share all your knowledge about the Heartless with him!" Jack said in delight and motioned his bony hand as a sign to follow him. They followed him nervously, with the mayor trailing behind them.

* * *

"Everyone! I would like you to meet Dr. Finkelstein! Dr, Finkelstein, meet Sora, Akyra, Donald and Goofy. They know much about the Heartless," Jack said joyfully as if this meeting would solve every problem. 

"Splendid!" the doctor said ecstatically. But all the four of them could do was stare at him. He looked like some sort of mummy with a huge head in a wheelchair. He also had glasses, but no eyes. It was a creepy sight, if I'm being honest.

"Doctor, the mayor informed me that you have found a way to control the Heartless and make them dance for this year's celebration!" Jack said.

"I have, Jack," the doctor replied, "and it is very simple. All we need is to give the Heartless a heart!"

"Why couldn't I think of that sooner?" Goofy said while scratching his head.

"How obvious! Brilliant idea, doctor! Can we make a suitable heart?" Jack asked.

"Why, of course! We just need a few little ingredients. But first, we need a container and a lock," Dr. Finkelstein said as he wheeled over to a tiny operating platform where a ghost Heartless lay. He searched through a tiny pile behind the platform and took out a heart-like form that looked like it was made out of cloth and pieces of metal. In the middle was the shape of a lock. "We need the key to this," Dr. Finkelstein said, holding up the strange device so everyone could see. Sora gazed at his Keyblade and wondered what would happen if he used the Keyblade as a key.

"I'll help!" he shouted to the doctor.

"I am very grateful, young man, but I don't think you're giant key will-" He was cut off by Sora, who approached the lock and raised his blade, hopping his idea would work. A small flash of light exited the tip of his Keyblade and entered the small lock. There was that familiar clicking sound that followed. The doctor gazed at Sora in awe and finally said, "Amazing! Truly outstanding!"

"He's right, Sora! How would you like to be in this year's Halloween celebration?" Jack asked. Sora nodded in agreement. "Wonderful! And now that we have a key, what is the next thing the heart needs?"

"It still needs memory and surprise," the doctor said, "although Sally may have the memory! Do you mind finding her?" the doctor asked.

"Sure, we'll find Sally. She should be in the graveyard," Jack replied while making his way to the door with the rest of them following.

Along the way, Jack told the four friends about the story of the Heartless' first arrival in Halloween Town.

"The Heartless came not too long ago. We saw how scary they looked and hoped we could get them to dance with us at our annual celebration. But they just won't dance, the stubborn little things..."

"Donald, could you please stop clutching my costume? You might ruin it!" Sora yelled at him.

"I can't! This place is too creepy, and spooky and haunted, and..." Donald chattered.

"You can't ruin Sora's costume, Donald. He'll need it for the Halloween celebration," Akyra pointed out. Donald glared at her and let go of Sora as he walked forward, a terrified expression crossing his face.

"Thanks, Akyra," Sora said as he straightened his costume. Akyra smiled but stopped abruptly as to not bump into Jack, who stopped walking. They gazed around them and spotted a girl about Akyra's height, wearing a rag dress that looked as if it had been stitched together a thousand times. Actually, she looked like she had been stitched together a thousand times.

"Hello, Jack," she said in a very soft tone, "do you need something?"

"Yes I do need something, Sally! We are going to have the best Halloween that ever existed if only you give us your memory," he said merrily.

"You mean these?" Sally said while showing them the small bunch of flowers she was holding.

"Yes, that's perfect!" Jack replied while taking them from her.

"Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe you shouldn't do this," she said in a worried tone of voice.

"Nonsense! You're going to love what I have planned! Don't you worry!" Jack said ecstatically as he turned around and made his way to the laboratory.

"Of course, Jack...you know best..." Sally said sadly. The four friends whirled around and followed Jack, leaving Sally and her sad self behind.

* * *

Me: That feels much better!  
Akyra: Wow, I'm not from Halloween Town... Where am I from?  
Me: No more questions! Besides there's only Neverland and Hollow Bastion left!  
Audience: And End Of The World!  
Me: Oh yeah... Hmm...  
Akyra: You better not make me from End Of The World or I'll blast you! 


	26. Surprise!

Me: Here is the chapter I promised. And another one will be coming tomorrow as well!  
Everyone: (puts down pitchforks and torches and cheers)  
Me: Yep, this is probably the best chapter I've ever written! And plus, there are TWO cliffhanger endings! Mwahahaha! I'm so evil...  
Audience: We are so happy that we won't bother you today!  
Me: Yipppeeeee!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But nothing says that I can't dream about owning it! (dreams that she owns Kingdom Hearts)

* * *

"Here is the memory, doctor!" Jack said as they entered the laboratory once more. 

"Perfect! Now all we need is surprise and the heart will be completed. The mayor should have the last ingredient. You'll find him in the boneyard," Dr. Finkelstein answered. The five of them spinned around again and marched out the door towards the boneyard.

The boneyard looked very similar to the graveyard except that instead of being filled with graves, it was filled with bones and three tombstones. They found the mayor standing in front of the far left tombstone.

"Mayor, it's a pleasure to see you again. We are searching for a 'surprise' and were told that you might have it," Jack started.

"Very well, you may have it," the mayor said, "after you play a little game of mine! The rules are simple. Just watch the ghosts fly out of the different tombstones and then select the tombstones in order of what you saw. Easy?"

"Sora, why don't you play?" Akyra suggested.

"Sure! It sounds like fun," Sora answered and approached the stones.

"Good luck!" the mayor said. The moment the mayor stepped back, one lonesome ghost flew out of the center tombstone.

"YAAH!" Donald cried as he saw the ghost hover above the stone. He quickly scrambled around and hid behind Goofy.

"Oh, Donald..." Goofy sighed. Two more ghosts flew out of various stones. Finally, the mayor stepped forward and said, "So, Sora, tell us! The first ghost flew out of which tombstone?"

Without a doubt, he pointed to the center one.

"Correct! Now tell us the second and the third and the surprise is yours!" Sora pointed to the left tombstone and then to the center one once more. "Splendid! Your surprise is in that pumpkin statue," the mayor concluded by pointing to the huge pumpkin behind them. Suddenly, the pumpkin blew up and revealed a small Jack-in-the-Box.

"Thank you, mayor," Jack said as he picked up the Jack-in-the-Box and made his way to the lab, the four friends following his lead.

* * *

"You obtained the surprise! I must say, I am very pleased. Now, if you'll kindly wait a moment," Dr, Finkelstein said while turning towards the ghost Heartless. 

"Just think, Akyra! We won't have to fight Heartless when this 'heart' is ready!" Sora said ecstatically to Akyra, who was sitting beside him.

"I know! And plus, we'll get to see them dance, too! You think Donald will faint of horror when he sees that?" she answered. Sora laughed at her comment and got a glare from Donald, who was standing only a few inches away.

"Hey, did any of you see that?" Goofy asked, his voice turning a little shaky.

"See what, Goofy?" Akyra asked.

"Something," he answered, "it was moving and then it stopped and then it ran away! Just like a mouse!"

"Maybe it was a mouse," Donald answered.

"The heart is ready!" Dr. Finkelstein announced while setting it on the table.

"Can we see?" Jack asked. He approached the creation but before he had the chance to look at it, a young boy wearing a mask snatched the heart and scurried for the door.

"They have the heart! Follow them!" Jack ordered as he ran after the young boy. The rest of them readied their weapons and followed him to the door.

* * *

The little boy wasn't much of a fast runner and in no time, Akyra caught up to him and grabbed the back of his costume. The rest of the team caught up. 

"All right, kid, game over! Give us the heart!" she screeched.

"NO!" the little boy said, clutching the heart.

"You shouldn't steal things that are not rightfully yours"

"B-b-but"

"Give it back! Don't make me take it from you!" she said, her temper rising. The boy merely clutched the heart even harder.

"You asked for it!" She yelled. She grabbed the boy's shoulder and reached for the heart. Then, something odd started happening. The image of the little boy and the heart swirled in her eyes as she started losing her balance. She fell to her knees and her eyes turned from crystal blue to glowing yellow.

"No, no not again!" she managed to hear Sora yell as the image in her eyes stopped swirling and revealed a new image...

* * *

She was in some sort of woods with green light that shone through the trees. 

"Where am I now? At least I'm not in danger..." She said out loud. She spinned around and realized that she spoke too soon. The green light turned dark and before her was a figure of an immense bag with two little eyes and a mouth. In front of him were three familiar children. One of them was dressed up as a devil, the other was a witch and the smallest one was the little boy she stopped earlier.

"What's going on?" She yelled, but no sound came out. Suddenly, the huge bag lifted his right hand up in the air. Akyra clearly saw he was carrying some long rope. He then brought it down on the three of them with such force that she just couldn't watch. The three children screeched in pain as the whiplash hit them. Akyra blocked her eyes and shut her eyes. She didn't want to see this.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" She screeched as high as she could. "Make it stop..." she said again and abruptly opened her eyes. She was back in Halloween Town, just like before. She lifted her head and saw that the little boy, a terrified look on his face, decided to take a chance and run away while her guard was down. She watched him run further and further as he disappeared in the horizon.

"What happened...?" Jack asked slowly. Akyra turned to face them, a sad expression on her face, and whispered, "I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry? Is that all you can say! You're sorry?" Sora asked angrily. The team gasped and faced Sora. This was the first time they saw him mad at Akyra. "Akyra, he got away! Who knows what evil he'll do with that! Who knows what will happen! You let him get away and then say you're sorry? That's all you can say! If someone is about to destroy the world and you fail to stop him, all you say is sorry! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! What do you have to say for yourself!"

Akyra's eyes filled with tears as she said, "I...can't control it!"

Sora then remembered what happened to her earlier in Traverse Town, how she entered his dream without wanting to. His face fell as he said, "Akyra... I'm sorry... I didn't remember! I'm sorry, Akyra, I'm sorry!"

But by the time he said that, Akyra had already run away towards Moonlight Hill. The rest of them stayed in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Goofy finally said, "Well, Sora... I hope you're happy!"

"Trust me... I'm not..." Sora answered shamefully.

"Why don't we find the kids and hope she'll turn up..." Donald concluded. "Let's just hope she does. Zero!" Jack yelled. A small ghost dog came flying in their direction, ecstatic to see Jack. "Zero, follow those kids!" The little dog spinned around and flew towards a large manor, with the four of them trailing behind.

* * *

"To think, this Oogie Boogie could have made his manor less confusing! We're lost here!" Donald said hopelessly. 

"No we're not! There's a door straight ahead!" Goofy said happily as they entered through the door. The moment they walked in, they spotted the three small children they had seen earlier.

"YOU!" Sora said angrily as he grabbed the one dressed up as a devil, "Where's the heart!"

"You can't have it!" the boy replied.

"Tell us, and we might spare you your lives!" Sora raged.

"You can't have it! We already gave it to Oogie Boogie!"

"And where is this Oogie Boogie?"

"We will never tell!" Donald, Goofy and Jack closed in on them to frighten them.

"All right! You need to pull that lever over there. Oogie's door should be somewhere near this manor."

"Thank you, that's all we wanted," Sora said while letting him go and pulling the strange lever in the corner. After he did this, the four of them paced back outside to find Oogie's door.

* * *

"Oh great! We forgot to ask him where the door was!" Donald said. 

"I'm sure we'll find it soon..." Jack said hopefully.

"Or maybe we can see it from here!" Goofy said happily as he leaned over to the edge of the platform. He placed his foot a little too forward and lost his balance. "Whoa! Help!" he screeched.

"Goofy, be careful!" Jack yelled as they ran towards them. They were too late as Goofy fell off the edge.

"Goofy!" Donald cried.

"It's all right! I'm okay!" they heard his shout.

"Goofy, where are you?" Sora shouted down.

"I don't know," came the reply, "It's full of tree roots here. And there's a green door with the picture of a bag on it!"

"How convenient!" Jack squealed in delight, "He's found Oogie's door!"

"Well, then let's go!" Sora said happily as he jumped off the edge followed by Jack and Donald.

When the all landed safely, they stocked up on potions and such and walked past the door. The room was dimly lit and a roulette stood in the middle of the room.

"I don't like this..." Sora murmured.

"Well!" came a booming voice from above, "If it isn't Jack Skellington! Oh and look! He brought his friend, the Keyblade Master! Pleasure to meet you all!" He stepped forward and they saw where the voice came from. "It is I! Oogie Boogie! And I would be honoured to let you stay!"

He laughed maniacally again and out of nowhere, iron chains flew towards the four of them. They all screamed in horror and shielded their eyes, not daring to know what was going to happen next...

* * *

Akyra sat on the tip of Moonlight Hill and occasionally sobbed. She thought about everything. How Sora had always been a close friend of hers and never tried to hurt her. How they lost Riku and Kairi on that fateful night. Why the Staffblade chose her over Riku... She cried even more when Jiminy popped out of her pocket. 

"Akyra, don't cry. He said he was sorry!" he said, trying to console her.

"He never ever tried to hurt me before. And besides, he's always saying he's sorry! And I always forgive him! He never made it up to me!" She said angrily.

"Well, it's nice to see that you're not sad anymore, but I know he'll make it up to you! Someday, Akyra!"

"I guess you're right... He always keeps his promises," she said, thinking about all the promises he's kept when they were younger and still on the islands.

"I knew you'd come to your senses!"

"Thanks Jiminy," she said, hugging the little cricket.

"Your welcome. Hey don't you think you should catch up to them?"

"Yeah, I should!" she answered. She got up and perched Jiminy on her shoulder. But before leaving the hill, she was distracted by Queen Amelia's grave.

"So this is the famous Queen Amelia! I'd better write this down," Jiminy said while writing in his journal. Akyra stared at the stone for a really long time, as if she was drawn to it.

"There's something about her..." she murmured. She put her hand on the stone so she wouldn't fall over. But the moment she touched the cold rock, the air around her turned cold. The image of the stone swirled up in her eyes as they turned bright yellow. She lost her balance and almost fell forward.

"Akyra! Not again..." she heard Jiminy's yells.

"Why is this happening? I only touched a stone!" Akyra thought, "Am I reading Queen Amelia's memory?"

* * *

Me: To tell you the truth, the Goofy falling off the ledge and discovering Oogie's manor is exactly how I found it.  
Akyra: Really?  
Me: Yep. My analog stick got stuck in a position and my Sora ran right off the ledge. And when he landed, the green door was right in front of me!  
Audience: How convenient.  
Me: Yes... yes it was! This chapter was the best one I've ever written! Plus 2 cliffie endings! And...  
Akyra: There she goes, showing off again... 


	27. A Flash From The Past

Me: Here is your promised chapter. And if I resist the urge to play Final Fantasy X-2, I may be able to update one last time!  
Akyra: Hooray! (burns Final Fantasy game)  
Me: What did you do!  
Akyra: You are NOT playing until you update one last time!  
Me: (cries) My beautiful game...  
Akyra: (sigh) That wasn't the real thing you know. I just burned it to make you think that it's gone forever so you can update.  
Me: (glares) You're lucky you're my fanfic character or I outta-

Disclaimer: Do I have to put this dumb disclaimer? Anybody in their right mind would know that I don't own Kingdom Hearts!

* * *

The graveyard was empty and filled with an eerie fog that made it almost impossible to see more than fifteen feet away. The only living thing was probably the spiders, spinning their webs and making their home. Lots of grey flowers covered the foot of the tombstones, most of them were actually dead. Worst of all, since it was so deserted, you can actually hear the wind's whispers. But in the distance, a small figure was hopping towards that empty graveyard. It was a young girl, about three years old. She had very short hair and was wearing a vampire costume, except without the traditional cape we're all used to seeing. She didn't seem the least bit scared by the eerie state of the graveyard. In fact, she hummed to herself and picked flowers while hopping around, as if the graveyard wasn't there at all. She continued picking her little bouquet of flowers until her tiny hand couldn't hold anymore. She then hopped out of the graveyard and made her way towards the center of Halloween Town. She reached a medium-sized house and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door. She looked very much like the little girl except that she had black hair that flew all over the place. A smile broke across her face when the little girl offered her the bouquet. 

"For you, mommy," the little girl said.

"Thank you, dear! I'll make sure I find a vase of water for them," the woman answered.

"Can I go play with that hill that curls?" the little girl asked innocently. The woman nodded her head and watched as her daughter ran off towards the hill. There was something about this woman that Akyra, who was hiding in a nearby bush, couldn't figure out. She looked oddly familiar.

"That's Queen Amelia!" Akyra thought.

Queen Amelia turned around and closed the door behind her. Akyra decided to follow the little girl, who was Queen Amelia's long lost daughter who nobody knew the whereabouts. It is said that she was killed along with her mother, but they never found her body. Akyra thought of all this as she followed the queen's daughter all the way to Moonlight Hill, where the little girl played by running up and down the hill, which curled with her steps. Akyra watched her enjoy herself until the earth started to quake. The young girl stopped abruptly and looked around to see what happened. The ground shook again, and again, and again. The little girl stepped back in fright when suddenly, out of the shadows stepped a figure Akyra wished to never see again. That huge bag filled with bugs that caused so much destruction.

"Well, lookie here! The Princess of Halloween! Why are you playing all alone? Hasn't your mom ever taught you to look out for strangers?" he said in a sinister way. The little girl's face had turned white with horror. "Are you scared? Are you scared of Oogie?" he said, laughing maniacally.

"Leave her alone!" Akyra screeched, jumping out of the bushes and swinging her Staffblade on the monster. But her blade passed right through him, as if it were made of air. "This is a memory," Akyra remembered, "it has already happened! I can't change it." Realizing she can't do anything about it, she stepped aside, hoping someone would come and save the young princess. She was right, because in the distance came running Queen Amelia.

"Get away from her, you monster!" She screeched.

"Miss Amelia! Is that a challenge?" Oogie threatened. Queen Amelia whipped out two daggers and readied herself for battle. Oogie Boogie made the first hit, and missed her by a long shot. The battle raged on until Oogie hit Queen Amelia across the face and she fell to the ground.

"This is the end of the Queen of Halloween!" Oogie Boogie said, as he raised his hand and hit her again. This time, the queen fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Mommy!" the little girl yelled as she ran to her unconscious mother.

"Now, princess it's your turn!" Oogie screeched and laughed maniacally.

"Don't you dare, Oogie!" Jack yelled. Jack had arrived at the scene. Oogie, at the sight of Jack, immediately started shaking. It seems that Oogie's only fear is Jack. Akyra whirled around to see where the little girl was in all this chaos. The young girl was sitting next to her mom, and took a necklace of her mom's neck. It looked familiar. It was the shape of a silver crown with a tiny star in the center. The little girl stuffed it in her pocket, but barely after she took her hand out of her pocket, another man ran in her direction.

"Dear, we have to get out of here!" the man cried.

"But daddy," the little girl moaned, "what about mommy?"

"We can't take her with us. Come on!" the man grabbed her hand and brought her to a tiny vessel nearby, so tiny it only had place for two. Akyra followed them, curious to see who the man was. He spinned around and strapped the little girl in her seat. At the sight of him, Akyra gasped, not daring to believe what she just saw.

"Dad?" Akyra asked.

"Daddy, where are we going?" the little girl asked.

"Anywhere, Akyra, as long as it's away from here!" Her dad replied as he started up the engine of the vessel. In no time at all, the vessel shot through the air and exited the world's atmosphere, the young girl watching her beloved home getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared from view...

* * *

"Akyra, come on! You can't read memories now! Wake up!" Jiminy cried, hoping to wake her up. Akyra screamed and opened her eyes. 

"Well, it's about time you woke up!" Jiminy said. Not listening to him, Akyra grabbed one of her necklaces and yanked it off her neck. The charm was a silver crown with a tiny star in the middle.

"Jiminy... I remember! I remember!" She squealed.

"Remember what?" Akyra explained the whole memory to Jiminy, who was very surprised as well at what she discovered.

"I remember it all! Every little memory I have from here!"

"What do you remember about Oogie Boogie?"

"That no-account was the one that killed Queen Amelia, my long lost mother. He's obsessed with destruction!"

"That's not good! Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jack said that they were going to Oogie's manor to get the heart back," Jiminy said nervously.

"What! We have to save them! Where is Oogie's manor?" She screeched.

"Down north! I'll tell you where to go!" So Akyra perched Jiminy on her shoulder and made her way towards Oogie's manor as fast as she could, following Jiminy's directions.

* * *

"So! Are you feeling brave now, Key bearer?" Oogie teased. He had tied them to the wall with iron chains so none of them could move. "Let's see... Who should I get rid of first? How about you, Jack? No, no, I should get rid of the Keyblade master! Oh, but I can't, by orders of Maleficent. Then again, I really don't like that witch. I have made a decision! Say your prayers, Keyblade master!" 

"Not on my watch!" rang a very familiar voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Oogie ordered. Akyra stepped forward near the roulette. "Staffblade bearer?" Oogie Boogie said, while checking his prisoners, "I knew someone was missing... I guess I'll have to take you out first!"

"Want to finish your dirty job you never finished eleven years ago?"

"Yes I-... Hold on a second. Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare"

"Quit it, girlie! Who are you?"

"Why don't you tell us, Oogie, we are dying to know. What was the name of Queen Amelia's daughter?"

"That little runt I got rid of? Her name was Akyra."

"WHAT!" Sora, Donald and Goofy all screeched at once.

"Why are you here? What do you want? To save your precious little friends?"

"Partly," Akyra answered, "I also want revenge on you for killing my mom eleven years ago!"

"This is an outrage! I got rid of you eleven years ago!" Oogie screeched.

"I escaped! And now I'm back to make you pay!" She jumped atop the roulette and readied herself for battle.

"Fine then! I'll get rid of you now!" he taunted, as he stepped on a tiny button on the floor. Just then, three sets of cards approached Akyra, their swords waving in every direction.

"Akyra, look out!" Sora yelled. She jumped out of the way just in time and began chasing Oogie Boogie around the roulette. Oogie jumped high up, out of her reach, and grabbed on to a hanging chain. A long thread was dangling from his arm.

"So, princess, feeling lucky?" He said as he laughed maniacally once again. Akyra grabbed the tiny thread and stepped back. Oogie's expression turned from evil to nervous as Akyra pulled the thread.

"How dare you take my mother away from me!" She said, pulling harder. The more she pulled, the more the bag's hole widened, bugs of different shapes and colors falling from it. "How dare you treat my friends so shamefully!" She said once again, giving the thread a final tug.

"No!" Oogie moaned as his bagged ripped in half. Every little bug contained in him fell all over the floor and scurried to hide in a corner.

"Serves you right," Akyra said triumphly. She walked towards the prisoners and broke their chains, freeing them.

"Akyra! You came back for us!" Goofy said happily, hugging her.

"Aw, Goofy. I would never let you down!"

"It's a miracle! We have finally found Queen Amelia's one and only daughter! Wait till the mayor hears. Oh no, wait till the town hears! This is wonderful!" Jack squealed in delight. Sora approached her, apparently still feeling guilty about before.

"Look, Akyra. I'm very sorry about before and if you don't want to forgive me, I completely understand-"

"I forgive you!" Akyra said, hugging him. Sora was speechless.

"Aw, isn't that lovely?" A familiar menacing voice said.

"No... It can't be!" Akyra said, looking up at Sora.

The ground shook lightly. The five friends ran outside the broken down manor and watched what was happening. Oogie Boogie and his manor had somehow mixed together to form one huge monster. The manor shook and occasionally let out a terrible screech.

"Look! The orbs are giving him his power!" Donald pointed out.

"Then let's destroy those orbs!" Sora ordered and started running towards the manor.

"I'm going to the top!" Akyra yelled.

"What? Why!" Sora shouted back.

"I said I would get revenge on him, and I always keep my promises!" So she started climbing to the top of the manor, leaving the rest of her friends worried and anxious...

* * *

Audience: I'm confused! Didn't you say Akyra was NOT from Halloween Town?  
Me: I know. I lied.  
Akyra: What? How could you? (sobs)  
Me: Well, everyone was guessing that Akyra was from Halloween Town. And when they know what's going to happen, then the thrill of finding out is gone when they read about it. And I can't have that happening to my readers! You guys are the best! And I want to ensure maximum entertainement when you read my fic.  
Akyra: Aw...  
Audience: We are not forgiving you!  
Me: That's okay. You never forgive me for anything.  
Audience: So you're happy that we don't forgive you? Fine! Then we forgive you! No wait... Hey!  
Me: I love reverse psychology! 


	28. The Princess Of Halloween

Me: Here is the last chapter I promised you!  
Audience: You updated twice in one day?  
Me: Yep. A way of saying I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long.  
Audience: (tear)  
Me: Audience, are you crying?  
Audience: NO! (sniffle)

Disclaimer: For the second time today, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I am fortunate enough to own Akyra!

* * *

The five of them raced around the manor, destroying as many orbs as they could find. When Donald had found and destroyed the last orb, they all met at the bottom. 

"The last orb is destroyed," Donald said, panting.

"That's a relief," Jack said happily.

"But if you destroyed it, then why isn't Oogie's manor crumbling down or disappearing or something like that?" Goofy asked curiously.

"We must have missed an orb," Donald said, "I'll go look for it!"

"No, Donald!" Sora ordered, stopping him in his tracks, "the last orb is the one Akyra went after."

"Well then, why isn't she finished yet? It takes about three seconds to destroy an orb!"

"Patience, Donald! She'll come back," Sora gulped, "I hope..."

* * *

"Where is that orb?" Akyra asked herself. She had already done the turn of the top of the manor four times. Finally, she spotted it a little higher up on Oogie's shoulder. 

"There you are!" She said as she approached it. "Say goodbye, Oogie!" She readied her staff and was prepared to shoot a thunder spell.

"Goodbye for what? I'm not going anywhere!" came Oogie's booming voice.

"Huh? But I- HELP!" she shrieked as the manor shook and swayed, sending her flying off the ledge. She grabbed on to one of the little pieces of wood sticking out of the manor, holding on to dear life.

* * *

Near the bottom of the manor, the four friends heard Akyra's shriek for help. 

"Oh no! She's in trouble! I can't watch..." Goofy said, covering his eyes.

"I'm going after her!" Sora said bravely and started climbing the manor.

"Sora, you crazy goof! Get back here!" Donald yelled but couldn't convince him.

* * *

"So, this is the end of the Princess of Halloween! Nice knowing you! Hahaha!" the manor laughed its famous maniacal laughter. It swayed one last time. Akyra couldn't hold much longer. Her hands slipped from the piece of wood and she fell. She shrieked again as she fell, the image of the manor flashing before her eyes. 

"Akyra! Hold on!" Sora screeched from nearby. He grabbed her right hand right as she was about to pass him. She stopped abruptly from falling and dangled from a ledge, holding on to Sora. He gathered up his strength and pulled her over the ledge to safety.

"Akyra, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she answered, "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. What do you say we get rid of this monster once and for all?"

"I'm one step ahead of you!" She said bravely as she got up and climbed to the top again with Sora by her side.

"You again!" Oogie's manor boomed.

"I'll distract him, you destroy the orb," Sora whispered in her ear. He then ran right in front of Oogie's face. "Hi there! Are you looking for me?" he taunted. Oogie became seriously annoyed and attempted to hit Sora, who continued with his taunting. In the other corner, Akyra found the last orb and destroyed it with the help of her thunder.

"Yes! I did it!" She yelled joyfully. The manor wailed and shook as it started to crumble up and fall to the ground.

"Akyra, you did it!" Sora said happily when he caught up to her.

"But the manor's falling apart! With us still on top of it!" Sora's facial expression changed from happy to nervous in less than a second.

"Do we dare jump?" he asked. Akyra shook her head and opened Merlin's magic book.

"There has got to be something here!" She flipped through the pages rapidly until she came across the page she was looking for. "Here it is, Sora! It says: 'In the most crucial of circumstances, the Staffblade can emit the power of flight. The only way to obtain this ability is the wanting of saving another life'! That's good enough!"

"But none of those circumstances are happening!" Sora screeched over the noise of the manor.

"Sure it is! I'm the Staffblade bearer and I want to save your life!" she answered. She raised the Staffblade over her head and thought hard about saving their lives by flying off the manor.

"Hold on!" she told him. The moment the manor they were standing on started crumbling, they jumped off it, hoping the Staffblade would save them. The last piece of the manor fell to the floor and created huge dust clouds. Once the dust cleared up, Donald asked in a sad voice, "Where are they?"

"There they are! And they're flying!" Goofy said excitedly, pointing to the sky.

"Flying? How marvellous!" Jack said.

Higher up, Akyra dared to open her eyes and see if their plan had worked. She opened one eye slowly and at the moment she saw them hovering in the sky, a wave of relief washed over her.

"Sora! We're flying!" she said happily.

"Huh? We are? Cool!" Sora answered in relief. She steered her staff to the ground and they both jumped off.

"You were flying! You flew off the manor!" Donald said ecstatically.

"We sure did! And plus, Oogie's finally gone!" Akyra said, bringing more cheer. Suddenly, her Staffblade started glowing an eerie shade of pink.

"Huh? What's wrong?" she asked as they watched her Staffblade. It continued glowing for some time until a very tiny pink orb exited from the tip. It circled around Akyra and finally disappeared in a flash of dust.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was that?" Jack asked.

"Why not check Merlin's magic book!" Sora and Donald said together. Akyra chuckled and checked her book. "It says: the Staffblade may prove it's wielder worthy of certain abilities. Listed are all the abilities you could learn along with the color. What color did I get?"

"It was pink!" Goofy answered.

"Grr...pink," Akyra mumbled as she checked for the pink orb. Akyra always hated the color pink. "The pink orb means I have been granted the ability to control the reading of dreams and memories!"

"Well, that's great news! Let me write it down," Jiminy said as he wrote down the information.

"We're sorry that we couldn't get the heart back, Jack," Sora apologized sadly.

"Aw, that's okay. Next year's will be better. We better go tell the doctor the bad news," Jack said sadly as he followed them back to the lab.

* * *

"We're sorry doctor. We couldn't retrieve the heart," Jack said. 

"That's fine. At least you tried," Dr. Finkelstein answered.

"Don't feel bad, Jack. Next year's will be better," Sally said, who was also in the lab.

"I just wanted the most terrifying Halloween ever," Jack answered.

"Look on the bright side! You got to destroy Oogie Boogie once and for all!" Akyra said.

"And you also found Queen Amelia's long lost daughter!" Sora said.

"Sora! That's not a good reason!" Akyra said angrily.

"Queen Amelia's daughter! You're putting us on!" Dr. Finkelstein said.

"But it is true, doctor. This really is the Princess of Halloween," Jack answered.

"Oh yeah? If you're the princess, then answer this question," the doctor said while approaching her, "What was the title of Queen Amelia's song?"

"That's easy! It was called 'Dearly Beloved'" Akyra answered with pride. The doctor looked at her for a long time and said, "We must alert the mayor."

"Alert me for what?" a new voice said. The mayor had just walked through the door.

"This girl is Queen Amelia's long lost daughter, Akyra," Jack said.

The mayor's eyes grew wide for a moment and he said, "Will the four of you follow me, please?" Sora, Donald, Goofy and Akyra obeyed him and followed the mayor out the door and through Guillotine Square. The square was filled with townspeople surrounding a huge stage. The mayor brought them on stage, approached the microphone and said,

"Forget my other speech! This new one is way more important than the last! Behold, in front of you are the four brave fighters who vanquished Oogie Boogie!" Cheers erupted from the crowd, as if it were New Year's. "And that's not all!" the mayor continued, "In the process, we discovered Queen Amelia's long lost daughter, Akyra!" He took Akyra's hand and pushed her forward so everyone could see. The crowd gasped for a moment and then erupted in even more cheers. Quite a few of them bowed as well.

"Why are they bowing?" Akyra asked Sora quietly.

"You're royalty now," Sora answered. Akyra laughed nervously and took another look at the crowd, who were still cheering and bowing at the long lost princess.

* * *

After the crowd was finished cheering, Sora gathered a few flowers and made his way towards Queen Amelia's grave. There he found Akyra, standing all alone and staring longingly at the tombstone. 

"Hi, I- uh... thought I should bring a few flowers to your mom's grave," he said nervously. Akyra chuckled, took the flowers and set them near the stone.

"Thanks," she said.

"I'm sorry, Akyra. I'm sorry for before. It seems that I'm always hurting you and I always say I'm sorry and then you always forgive me, even though I don't deserve it!"

"Sora, don't-"

"No, I mean it. But this time it's different. Akyra," he said, "I truly am sorry. And if you can't find it in your heart to forgive me, I understand. I just want you to know that I really am sorry, I mean it..."

"Sora, you silly twit! Of course I forgive you!" Akyra said happily, hugging him.

"You do?"

"Of course, I do! Whenever you hurt me, I know you never mean it! You would never hurt me!" She answered.

Sora hugged her back. "I promise," he started, "that nothing bad will ever happen to you again. I'll always be there for you."

"I promise the same to you," Akyra said. They finally let go of each other and Akyra asked, "Should we get going now?"

"Not yet," Sora answered, "not until I find the Keyhole."

"Oh yeah... I'll help you look," Akyra offered.

"Okay! How about we search around here for a bit?" Akyra nodded and searched for the Keyhole around her mother's grave. Then she noticed something she didn't see before. On the back of the tombstone was the engraving of her necklace's charm.

"What if I put the charm in the engraving?" Akyra thought to herself. She took the charm off the chain and carefully placed it into the engraving. A light shone from it and took the familiar shape of a Keyhole. "Sora!" she called, "I found it!"

"Great work, Akyra!" He said as he approached the Keyhole. The same familiar light shot out of the Keyblade and made its way to the Keyhole, and they both heard the familiar clicking sound. The light faded and Akyra's charm fell out of the engraving. She picked it up but when she rose, they both heard a certain duck's yells.

"What's Donald's problem?" Sora asked.

"Let's go see," Akyra answered.

* * *

It seems that the people of Halloween Town decorated the Gummi ship with spooky ornaments and decorations and, of course, Donald will not tolerate any of it. 

"Take them off, NOW! There will not be any spooky decorations on MY Gummi ship!"

"Aw come off it, Donald! Let them stay on at least till we leave?" Goofy suggested.

"All right, fine. But when we land in Traverse Town, they're coming off!"

"Are you sure you must leave so soon?" Jack asked the two teenagers.

"Yes, we do. We have to save other worlds too!" Sora said.

"Don't worry, Jack, we'll be back in time for next Halloween!" Akyra assured him.

"Alright then, if you must. Good luck on your journey!"

"Thank you!" the four of them said together as they entered the ship and rocketed towards the night sky.

* * *

"Hey, Donald, can I drive?" Akyra asked. 

"Absolutely not!" Donald answered.

"As the Princess of Halloween, I command you let me drive the Gummi ship!"

"Uh oh, Donald. She commanded you. You have to do what royalty says!" Goofy said. Donald grumbled and let Akyra drive.

"Oh boy!" she squealed, "I wonder where the Heartless ships are?"

"Yeah, me too. I can't see any of them!" Goofy said.

"Hey look! There's one!" Sora pointed out. The Heartless ship approached them, ready to attack when suddenly, it sped away.

"Hey, Donald. The Heartless ships are scared of our Gummi ship's decorations! And you wanted to take them off..." Akyra said triumphant, "So, you know what that means?"

"No, what does it mean?" Donald shuddered.

"ROLLER COASTER RIDE! YIPPEEEEEE!" Akyra jerked the controls and sent the Gummi ship flying through the air.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." Donald said. So the Gummi ship flew in twists and turns all the way to Traverse Town...

* * *

Me: (reads emotional Sora/Akyra part)  
Akyra: (sniff) Did Sora really do that for me? You are the greatest!  
Me: Of course I am! And guess what, Akyra? You're going to Neverland!  
Akyra: WHEEE! (glides around the room)  
Me: And that means lots more Riku! ;)  
Riku-deprived people that read my fic: (cheers) 


	29. Riku's Return

Me: I am sorry for the boringness of this chapter. I had absoloutely no ideas!  
Akyra: (ahem) Writer's block...  
Me: NO! I mean maybe...sort of... a little bit... okay okay I confess! I had writer's block.  
Cloud: Mwahaha! You confessed!  
Me: Cloud, what are you doing here?  
Cloud: I came in when I saw the flyer on your lawn saying 'Come in and taunt the authoress for having writer's block'  
Me: 0.0

Disclaimer: (destroys disclaimer) Mwahaha! Now I don't have to say that I don't own Kingdom Hearts anymore!

"That is the LAST time Akyra drives the Gummi ship," Donald said angrily.

"Aw, don't be such a party pooper, Donald! Admit that you had a fun time!" Sora pleaded.

"If getting sick on my own ship is a fun time, so help me," he said while turning away from the controls to face Sora.

"Speaking of a fun time, there's a huge ship approaching us!" Goofy said, watching the ship's map.

"So what? Just blast it with a few laser attacks," Donald said lazily.

"Uh, Donald? I don't think that's a Heartless ship," Akyra said nervously. Donald whirled around and let out a terrified quack. A huge, or should I say gigantic, pirate ship floated in the air and seemed to be advancing towards them at full speed.

"Turn away! TURN AWAY!" Sora screeched from the back as the pirate ship crashed into their ship.

"That was smart! Now what?" Akyra shrieked sarcastically.

"What else? We board the pirate ship!" Donald said.

"What? No way!" Sora, Akyra and Goofy all screeched together.

"It's either that or die!" Donald replied. Realizing that they had no other choice, the three remaining friends followed the duck's lead and jumped on to the pirate ship in the nick of time. The Gummi ship broke into large parts and fell out of sight into the bottomless sky.

"Wow, that was lucky," Goofy said, relieved that they had made it out of the Gummi ship on time.

"We'll need even more luck to get out of this," Akyra said fearfully. An army of pirate Heartless surrounded the four of them, their long grey swords practically scraping them.

"Keep the boy. We have no need for the rest," a voice finally called out. Obeying their orders, the pirate Heartless grabbed at Akyra, Donald and Goofy, tying them in ropes and transporting them through a door on the deck.

"What's going on!" Sora screeched menacingly as the Heartless left with his friends.

"Well, well. We meet again, Sora…" the voice said again. Sora turned around slowly and muttered something angrily under his breath. "Riku…"

"So, how does it feel to be the best? Always acting like a big shot? Strutting around, showing off what you have instead of caring for what's important?"

"What did you do to my friends!" Sora yelled.

"Those morons? You actually care more for them than you do for Kairi?" Riku replied. Sora's facial expression changed from anger to confusion.

"Kairi… You know where she is?"

"Of course I know where she is! You see, unlike you, I actually tried looking for her and found her," Riku said slowly. He snapped his fingers and a ball of dark energy formed before him. The energy took a certain form and in a couple of seconds, Kairi was lying unconscious on the floor.

"Kairi!" Sora screeched. He dropped his Keyblade and ran towards the one thing he's been searching for this whole time. "Kairi, wake up!" Sora said quietly as he tried to shake her awake.

"She won't wake," Riku started, "for she has no heart. That's what I'm looking for now. I'll find it sooner or later."

"Not if I can help it!" Sora said as he gently placed Kairi on the ground and rose, flames of anger shooting from his eyes.

"How? How will you find her heart when you are so weak?"

"I will," Sora assured him, "just you watch!"

"Haha, don't make me laugh. You know nothing about saving a friend. You don't even deserve a weapon of such power!"

"Oh yeah? And what makes you think you're worthy of it?" Sora asked angrily.

"Because I have what it takes to save Kairi. I can even do a few tricks! Watch," Riku said as he waved his hand. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a light shot from behind Sora, casting a long shadow. The shadow then rose out of the ground and stood up, facing his replica. Sora gasped at the sight of this and took a step back.

"Aw, Sora. Are you afraid of your own shadow?" Riku said wickedly as the shadow pushed Sora into a whole on the ground. Sora shut his eyes, waiting for the floor to hit him, the sound of Riku's laughs drowning in the background.

* * *

"Do you have any sixes?" 

"Go fish."

"Go fish yourself!"

"What is going on?" Akyra muttered lazily as she tried to sit up straight.

"Oh good! You're up!" Donald said cheerfully and got back to yelling at Goofy for not having any sixes. She stood up and scanned the room they were in at the moment. It was made entirely of wood and a lonesome barrel in the corner. Still, something didn't seem right to Akyra. Something was missing.

"Has anyone seen Sora?" She asked. The answer to her question arrived almost instantly when Sora came tumbling from an opening in the ceiling.

* * *

"Wow, really?" Donald asked excitedly. 

"Yes, I'm positive! I found Kairi!" Sora said happily.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go talk to her!" Goofy concluded.

"That's a great idea, but first," Akyra started, "how about getting off?" When Sora had tumbled through the ceiling, he had fallen on top of the rest of them. Poor Donald must have felt like a squashed pancake. They all rose from the ground, one by one, and proceeded towards the wooden door in front of them. Sora stepped forward and turned the doorknob but the door did not open.

"I guess it's locked…" Goofy said sadly.

"We're locked in here! With no food or water! How will we survive?" Donald screeched in horror.

"We're not locked in! You're just turning the knob the wrong way!" A different voice said. The four friends turned around and spotted a young boy dressed entirely in green, except for the orange feather stuck to his hat. What made this boy so unusual is that he was hovering two feet above the ground.

"Who are you?" Goofy asked politely.

"Why, I'm the answer to your prayers!" the boy replied. Donald stared angrily at the boy and tapped his foot.

"Fine, then! Don't ask for my help," the boy answered as he floated a bit higher into the air.

"Aren't you stuck in here too?" Akyra asked.

"Nope," the boy replied, "I'm just waiting for someone." Just then, a tiny light flew through the door's keyhole and danced around the room finally to land on the boy's outstretched hand. The tiny light made little jingle noises and as the four friends peered over the boy's hand for a closer look, they found that the light was a tiny girl with wings. A fairy, perhaps? No, it had to have been a pixie.

"Well, Tinker Bell, it sure took you long enough. So, did you find Wendy?" the boy asked. The pixie made more jingle noises but it seemed that the boy understood what she was saying. "You found her? Great! Wait… Another girl? Red hair? …What? I'm not leaving Wendy there! I have to save her!" the boy said in shock.

"Did she say she saw a girl with red hair too?" Akyra asked curiously.

"Yes she did," the boy replied.

"That's got to be Kairi!" Sora said in delight.

"Will you let us come with you? The other girl is our friend," Akyra asked as politely as possible, hoping the boy would accept.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" the boy asked suspiciously.

"How about we help you save Wendy?" Sora proposed.

The boy thought about it for a while then finally said, "I accept your offer. I'm Peter Pan."

"Great! I'm Sora, and this is Akyra, Donald and Goofy."

"Okay, we're in this together but only until we find Wendy," he said.

* * *

Me: Yipee, I have a whole week off school which means... more updating! Mwahaha! I laugh at you, people who go to school! (people who go to school leave the room in anger) Wait! You didn't review! Please don't go! You have to review! Wait! You MUST review...


	30. AntiSora

Me: Grr.. Second writer's block of the week!  
Audience: Neverland just isn't your world...  
Me: B-but I love Neverland! (glides around the room) WHEEE!  
Audience: We shouldn't have given her that chocolate bar...

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only own Akyra. Not satisfied? Well that's your problem!

* * *

Peter Pan approached the door, turned the doorknob the right way and the door swung open, revealing another dull wooden room. 

"I hate this place. The rooms all look the same, the doorknobs don't turn the right way and you are flying three feet off the ground!" Donald complained, pointing his little white finger directly at Peter Pan.

"Anyone can fly! Would you like to try?" Peter Pan replied. He grabbed Tinker Bell, who was flying right next to him, and shook her a little over each of their heads, shimmering gold dust sprinkling from her tiny body.

"A little bit of pixie dust is all you need," he said, finally letting go of the pixie, "and now you can fly too!"

Donald jumped in the air and flapped his little wings swiftly, but he still fell to the floor.

"Oops. I guess there is still one thing you need before you can fly. But what is it…" Peter Pan said, scratching his head as if deep in thought. Goofy helped Donald, who looked like he was ready to hurt someone, to his feet.

"I guess I don't remember… But I will remember somehow!" Peter assured them as he led the way towards another wooden door with a weird doorknob.

* * *

The room was big and held many red objects. But what really catches our interest is the two people standing in the middle of the room, disputing over something important. One of them was a pirate dressed in red with a hook instead of a left hand. This pirate was Captain Hook, captain of the ship. He was yelling very loudly at Riku, who stood next to him. 

"So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?" he yelled.

"Maleficent says that she is not one of them, so she will be no need to us. Raise the anchor and get moving as soon as possible. Leave everything we don't need behind, including her," Riku replied, turning away from the captain.

"What! After everything I went through just to capture her? What is that witch planning?" the captain boomed.

"I really don't know. And I really don't care, as long as it means getting Kairi's heart back," Riku answered, making his way towards the door.

"You're wasting your time, boy! The Heartless have taken her heart," the captain said slyly. Riku merely walked out the door, pretending not to hear Captain Hook's words.

"I'll find it…" Riku muttered in a whisper. Another pirate wearing a red polka-dot bandana was running towards Riku, but in the opposite direction. He seemed very frightened and worried as he ran through the door Riku exited only moments before.

"Mister Smee, what brings you here!" the captain asked angrily.

"The prisoners have escaped! And Peter Pan is with them!" Mr. Smee said in horror.

"Blast that Peter Pan! Bring them to me cabin immediately!" Captain Hook ordered.

"Y-y-yes sir! Right away sir!" Mr. Smee replied while bounding out of the room at full speed.

Riku, who had overheard Mr. Smee's announcement, re-entered the cabin and said, "Captain Hook! I have a request for you…"

* * *

After jumping over barrels and climbing ladders, the five friends arrived in another wooden room (again). What was different about this room was that a fireplace stood next to the wall with a huge opening in the ceiling. Just then, Tinker Bell made a few jingling noises and flew through the hole in the ceiling. 

"Tinker Bell found something!" Peter Pan said with glee.

"Peter? Peter Pan? Is that you?" A girl's voice came from the ceiling.

"Wendy!" Peter gasped, "Wendy you're safe!"

"Not for long! The pirates are coming! Please hurry, Peter!" Wendy yelled in fear.

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Peter assured her as he tried to get rid of the net that covered the hole in the ceiling.

"Wendy? Is there another girl with you up there?" Sora called out.

"Yes, yes there is. But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't moved one bit since we've been here," Wendy answered. Sora and Akyra scrambled over the fireplace, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled anxiously. The only thing they could both see is her red hair lying flat on the ground. Sora was about to reach out for her until suddenly Wendy's screams filled the room. A few pirate Heartless burst through the door and snatched Wendy and Kairi.

"Wendy! No!" Peter Pan cried while still trying to dispose of the netting.

"That's it! Peter Pan move aside!" Akyra screeched. Peter flew to one side, leaving an open space between Akyra and the stubborn net. "All right, you stupid net, take this!" she yelled and snapped her fingers. A ball of fire appeared at her fingertips and flew rapidly towards the net, burning it to a crisp. "Compliments of the princess of Halloween!" Akyra said cheerfully, following the others through the opening of the ceiling and trying to catch up with Wendy and Kairi as fast as possible.

* * *

They continued following the Heartless until they ended up in a large red cabin, the same one Captain Hook and Riku argued in before. 

"Let Wendy go!" Peter Pan yelled to someone Sora couldn't see. Sora was still climbing the ladder to the next room.

"Suit yourself," said another familiar voice Sora tried to identify while still climbing the ladder. But once he finished climbing and entered the room, his eyes fell upon the sight he wished he would never see. Riku held Kairi's unconscious body in his arms and disappeared into a portal of darkness.

"Riku!" Sora screeched, but Riku had already entered his dark portal and couldn't hear Sora's shrieks. Instead, the portal twisted and turned and disappeared instantly as well.

In the other corner, Peter Pan picked up an unconscious Wendy and said, "Well this is as far as I go. I've got to help Wendy!" With that, he flew out the open window without even a thank you or a goodbye.

"Come on guys, let's got to the deck!" Sora ordered. They whirled around and ran towards the door leading to the deck but were stopped in their tracks by another Sora.

"Two Soras?" Goofy gulped.

"No, Goofy," Sora said, remembering his earlier encounter with Riku, "It's my shadow!"

* * *

The battle against Sora's shadow was probably the hardest battle any of them had ever encountered. The shadow always divided itself into three identical clones, hence hiding the original shadow. Donald was having a really hard time identifying the real shadow. 

"Which one's the real one!" he screeched.

"Who knows?" Akyra replied, "Just keep attacking the one that looks like Sora!" Taking her advice, Donald took a swing at one of the Soras. Suddenly, the real Sora let out a shriek of pain.

"That's me, you dimbulb! You're supposed to attack the shadows!" He yelled angrily. Donald didn't make the same mistake twice but still had a hard time finding the original shadow. Finally, after Goofy dealt the winning blow, the shadow lost its shape and disappeared into the air.

"Sheesh, that was tough…" Akyra said, catching her breath and resting from the long battle.

"Rest up, you guys. Who knows what's waiting for us on deck…" Sora concluded while stocking up on potions, his head swimming in thoughts of Kairi and where Riku had taken her…

* * *

Me: (ish eating chocolate) Chocolate rules!  
Akyra: Authoress, I am concerned about your health.  
Me: What's wrong with my health?  
Akyra: You eat too much sugar and not enough fruit!  
Me: What's a fruit?  
Akyra: (sigh) Here's an apple.  
Me: Ooh, this looks good! (bites into the apple) GAH! (spits out apple) (chokes) Eww...healthy food! (chucks apple)  
Akyra: (sigh) 


	31. I Can Fly!

Me: More boringness in this chapter! That's what you get when writer's block strikes.  
Akyra: Again? That's the third time!  
Audience: Look on the bright side! It's the battle against Hook, which means... Destruction! Yay!  
Me: 0.0 I never knewthe day would come when the audience would be glad to read my ficcy...

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Akyra. And this fruit punch juice I'm drinking! (waves the fruit punch)

* * *

"That Riku is quite a cad for running off with that girl without even saying goodbye to his old friends," Captain Hook taunted. 

The four friends, rejuvenated and restored, proceeded towards the deck, according to Sora's orders, only to find themselves surrounded by a swarm of pirate Heartless.

"Run off? Where did he go? Sora commanded.

"He went to rejoin Maleficent, in Hollow Bastion. But you won't be going there," Captain Hook said, a twisted smile forming on his face as he took out a small glass cage from his coat pocket, "unless you mean to leave your little pixie behind?"

Inside the glass cage, a tiny light was racing around impatiently and the gang could easily make out the shape of a pixie. The Heartless pirates came even closer to wards them, their swords ready to slice anyone who made a sudden move.

"I might just spare you your lives if you hand over the Keyblade. You must be very glad I'm in a generous mood, unlike the Heartless," Hook spoke again, "So what will it be? Lose the Keyblade or walk the plank?" Sora hung his head sadly, thinking hard about how in the world they would get themselves out of this situation.

"No? Well then I'll just have to-" Hook stopped abruptly when he was interrupted by a ticking sound coming from the ocean underneath. Peering over the edge, Donald spotted a long green crocodile swimming around the side of the ship, looking mighty hungry.

"SMEE! It's the crocodile! He took me hand, Smee, he took me hand! You take care of the twerps! I have to get out of here!" Hook shouted and hid in the corner behind a large barrel.

"Alright, you heard your orders. Come on, get rid of them. Come on, shoo!" Mr. Smee said while whisking the Heartless towards the terrified group. The Heartless grabbed Sora first and forcibly dragged him towards the plank. He quickly glanced at the ocean again and saw the crocodile, mouth wide open and waiting for his early dinner to drop.

"Fly, Sora! Just believe you can do it!" Sora heard a familiar voice shout.

Peter Pan had come back. Sora nodded, shut his eyes tightly and jumped off the plank. He believed he could fly. He trusted Peter Pan's advice gave himself a final push through the air. He suddenly felt the salt spray against his face and heard his friends cheering. He gently opened his eyes and gazed at the view below. The ship beneath was getting tinier and tinier as he soared through the air for the first time in his life.

* * *

"Blast you, Peter Pan!" Hook shrieked from his corner. Peter Pan had swooped down and grabbed Tinker Bell's cage, freeing her. 

"Thanks for coming back," Sora said gratefully to Peter Pan who had come to join him high above.

"No problem. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you? But enough chitchat. We do have three friends of ours to save," Peter answered, pointing down to the swarm of Heartless surrounding their friends. Sora nodded in delight and flew alongside Peter Pan, ready to fight Hook.

* * *

"Ha, you dumb Heartless! You can't fight the great spellcaster!" Donald said triumphantly. 

"Spare us the hero talk, please?" Akyra asked nicely as she slashed the two Heartless by her side. Just then, a strong pressure grabbed her arm and dragged her away from battle. Akyra struggled to break free and turned to see Captain Hook dragging her towards the plank.

"If I can't get rid of the Keyblade master, I may as well get rid of the Staff bearer and get half of my work done," Captain Hook muttered angrily.

"Let me go! What do you mean half of your work?" Akyra questioned angrily, still struggling to escape Hook's strong grip.

"Sorry, girl. Specific orders from Maleficent," he said with glee as he pushed her forcibly onto the plank. Akyra fell forward, barely keeping her balance straight. Finally, losing most of her stability, she fell off the plank and watched the crocodile's mouth beneath her become wider and wider. _Remember what Peter said_, she thought to herself, _I've got to believe. I believe I can fly._ She opened her eyes and still saw the ship's wooden side and the crocodile before her.

"Oh great, just great!" Akyra said out loud as her life flashed before her eyes. Suddenly, instead of feeling the splash of water or the teeth of a crocodile, she felt…wind. Just normal wind brushing across her face.

"I promised nothing bad would ever happen to you," she heard Sora's voice speak. She opened her eyes and saw Sora, smiling back at her. He held her tightly in his arms as they soared through the air.

"Sora, you saved me!" Akyra said joyfully as he set her on a nearby ledge.

"Why didn't you fly?" Peter asked curiously.

"I don't know. I tried to fly," she answered. Peter Pan thought for a bit then blew her hair.

"Ha! Just as I thought. You don't have enough pixie dust!" he concluded, grabbing Tinker Bell from his left shoulder and shaking her violently over Akyra's head. "There," Peter Pan said, letting go of a dizzy Tinker Bell, "now you can fly too!" Akyra wasted no time and leapt off the ledge, floating in the air just as expected.

"I have an idea! Sora, Peter, both of you go fight Hook. I'll come later!" She said as she raced off towards the clouds above.

"Akyra! This is no time to play in the clouds! When will you come back?" Sora screeched.

"Trust me… You'll know," Akyra assured him and disappeared into the clouds.

"Okay then. She knows what she's doing," Sora confessed as he flew down to aid Donald and Goofy fight Hook.

* * *

Up in the sky, Akyra found a huge fluffy cloud and sat on it. _You'll work out nicely_, she thought. She jerked the cloud and, with the help of Merlin's magic book, directed the cloud to hit another grey cloud. The collision of these two clouds created a tiny bolt of lightning, exactly what she was looking for. 

"Nobody pushes Akyra off a plank! Take that Hook!" she said bravely as she summoned her strongest Thunder spell and blended it in with the lightning the clouds created. The Thunder spell glowed with a blinding light and bolted downwards, striking Captain Hook squarely.

"Whoa, Donald did you do that?" Goofy asked in awe. Donald shook his head as Akyra descended to his side.

"Akyra, that was smart!" Peter Pan praised.

"Now, Hook, say your prayers!" Sora threatened. He spinned his Keyblade and slashed Hook squarely in the chest, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the plank. A loud splash was heard and the friends raced for the edge to see what happened.

"Blast you…" Hook said weakly, "I'll find a way to get you back!"

"What is that I hear?" Sora said sarcastically, "Is it a ticking sound?"

"You're right Sora! It definitely is a ticking sound," Akyra replied. Hook whirled around and watched fearfully as the ticking crocodile got closer and closer.

"AACK!" was all Hook could screech before swimming as fast as he could away from the crocodile, which pursued him with a hungry in its eye.

* * *

Sora tightly held the railing, his head hanging in a sad position. By his sides stood Peter Pan and Akyra, Donald and Goofy behind him. An awkward silence was in the air until Peter finally spoke. 

"Sora…" He said sadly.

"I flew. I still can't believe that I really flew!" Sora said happily, raising his head so everyone can see his happy smile.

"You think Kairi will believe us if we told her?" Akyra asked.

"Why not bring her to Neverland sometime? I bet she'll believe you with a little proof," Peter Pan answered with glee.

"You guys are right!" Sora said, turning around to face his friends, "If you believe, anything's possible, right? We'll find Kairi. I know we will!"

"That's what I've been telling you this whole time, silly!" Akyra said happily, playfully punching his arm. Their laughter was interrupted by Tinker Bell, who flew towards them at an alarming speed.

"What is it Tink?" Peter asked the pixie, "The clock tower?"

* * *

"This is the clock tower, guys! The English call it Big Ben," Peter explained as they flew towards a rectangular tower with one clock at each of its sides. 

"Wow, it's huge!" Donald said in awe.

"Hey! Somebody's standing on the ledge!" Goofy pointed out.

"It's Wendy!" Peter said happily as he soared at full speed towards the girl.

"Peter Pan! I knew you'd come back! Who are your friends?" Wendy asked respectfully.

"This is Sora, Akyra, Goofy and…. Hey where's Donald?" Peter asked curiously.

"Hey Sora! This clock is off!" came Donald's voice from a nearby clock. He was right. Three of the clocks read midnight while one of them read 11:45.

"You're right! Let's fix that up," Sora said as he raised his weapon and hit the clock three times. Once the clock was set, a bell chimed, signalling that it was midnight, and the four clocks began to glow very brightly. In the centre of the bright clock, a small Keyhole was visible among the blinding light…

* * *

"It was reckless of you to bring her here without at least using a vessel!" Maleficent said angrily to Riku, who was kneeling in front of her, looking weak. 

"Remember, relying too much on the dark powers could cost you your heart," she said, lowering her voice. A loud growl was heard in the distance, alerting Riku.

"It's just a castaway," the witch started, "Though his world perished, his heart did not. He followed us all the way here when we took the princess away from his castle. But have no fear, dear boy. He is no competition for your power."

"My power…" Riku asked softly.

"Yes, the true power that lies within you. Now, it's time to awaken that supreme power and realize your true potential!" Maleficent boomed, an evil smile breaking across her face.

* * *

"Must you go? I had a lot of fun with you here!" Peter said sadly. 

"Yep. This is the worst part about visiting other worlds. You have to leave," Sora said miserably as he helped Donald and Goofy load up the spare Gummi ship they had.

"You can still come back! As long as you don't forget about Neverland, you can always come back!" Peter answered.

"Why wouldn't we come back?" Akyra said gleefully, "We can fly here!" With that, she ran off the ledge and soared around the tower several times, an excited expression on her face.

"She has a point," Sora finished. So they waved goodbye at their new friends and watched them become smaller and smaller as the Gummi ship took off in the night sky…

* * *

Me: Aw... Sora saved Akyra. Isn't that sweet?  
Audience: NO!  
Me: Are you questioning my writing! Then you shall have your destruction! (whacks the audience withthe Staffblade)  
Akyra: Ooh, destruction! (eats popcorn) 


	32. Akyra's Secret Journal

Audience: (are singing happy song) Hollow Bastion! Hollow Bastion! Lalalalala! Destruction!  
Me: I'm sorry to spoil your happiness, but this chapter is a little detour before Hollow Bastion  
Audience: WHAT! Attack the authoress!  
Me: A note to my friends, reviewers and people who read but don't bother reviewing: If you're one of those people who hate long conversations, please skip this chapter. This whole chappie is basically a whole conversation between two people. XD  
Audience: (attacks authoress)  
Me: 0.0 (hides)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only own Akyra. I don't own the song 'Dearly Beloved' but I do own the lyrics that appear in this chappie. It took me fifteen minutes to write them so you better like it! (glares at you)

* * *

"Hey look, we found a Gummi!" Akyra skipped happily and placed the Gummi block in Cid's hand. 

"I know, you want me to install it," Cid replied, twirling the piece in his hand, "It'll take the rest of the day. Why don't you guys go rest up before your next adventure?" The friends nodded in agreement and made their way towards the deserted hotel. Before leaving Neverland, Donald had found a tiny Gummi piece right above the Keyhole. They all hoped that this new Gummi would help them get to this 'Hollow Bastion' place Captain Hook had mentioned earlier.

* * *

"What is taking so long?" Donald whined. It has been at least half an hour since they gave Cid the Gummi piece and Donald started to grow impatient. 

"You heard him," Akyra said in a rather bossy voice, "he said it will take the rest of the day!" Donald let out a small quack of frustration and turned his regard to Sora, who's head was drooping sadly just like in Neverland.

"Sora, remember what we told you? No sad faces and no frowning?" Donald reminded him.

"How can you be so happy? Aren't you worried about your king? There's still no sign of him!" Sora said gloomily.

"Listen, Sora. The king gave us specific orders to go find the Key bearer, and we did. As long as we stick together, everything will turn out just fine. Believe in yourself and it will all work out," Goofy answered with a happy grin.

Sora hung his head sadly again, as if deep in thought, until suddenly an oddly familiar voice was heard in the background, "I believe in you."

Sora jerked his head up in shock and found himself standing in a large library with a long twisting staircase leading to the second floor. His three friends had disappeared and a lonesome old lady sat on a tall chair underneath the staircase. _What is this place?_ Sora thought while watching a young girl with red hair race towards the old lady.

"Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light," the old lady started telling the little girl, "Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it, wanting to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread quickly, swallowing the light and people's hearts. After it covered everything, the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived in the hearts of the children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand now, Kairi?"

"Kairi!" Sora screeched as he fell off his chair, a bright light appearing and erasing the scenery.

"Sora, are you okay?" Goofy's voice asked.

"What happened?" Sora groaned while opening his eyes.

"You screamed Kairi's name and fell off your chair," Akyra said.

"Oh, okay… I'm fine…" Sora said as he lazily lifted himself up from the floor. _Kairi?…_

* * *

That night, Sora was restless. The thoughts of Kairi and that old lady's story raced across his mind, causing him not to find any sleep at all. He finally decided to get up and take a walk around the hotel, hoping it will help him catch some sleep before their big day at a new world. But just as he was about to shut the door, the lamp on his bedside table fell and shattered into a million pieces. 

_Oh no! I hope I didn't wake anybody up!_ He thought to himself as he picked up the pieces. Just to make sure, he decided to check on his friends. He slightly opened one creaky door and spotted Donald and Goofy, sleeping soundly.

"What a relief!" Sora whispered happily as he closed the door and went to check on Akyra. He opened the other door on the opposite side of the room and took a peak inside. Jiminy was sleeping soundly on the bedside table, but the bed was still neatly made, as if nobody slept on it. _That's weird. I wonder where she is…_he thought as he shut the door silently and exited his room.

* * *

The hotel's hallway was as deserted as it has always been. Sora sat himself down on a chair (the same chair he fell out of moments before), and thought deeply about his dream. What did the old lady mean when she said that there was light sleeping within the dark? Was that little girl really Kairi? 

"I'll find you, Kairi," he assured, "I swear I will…" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a tiny book lying carelessly on the floor. He picked it up and curiously examined it. It was a dark shade of brown and looked very old. It couldn't have been Jiminy's journal, since his journal was bright orange. Sora opened the tiny book to face the first page. It was completely blank except for a small scribble of words in the middle; the words read 'Akyra's Secret Journal'.

"This is Akyra's journal? Why is it so secret?" He thought as he curiously turned the pages and read:

Dear Journal

Daddy came home today and brought you with him! He told me to write anything I want in it so I'm going to write my secrets in here! I can't wait to fill you up!

Dear Journal

A new girl came to the island today! It all started when my two best friends, Sora and Riku, and me were playing until a meteor shower came. It sort of scared me and I didn't know that people could travel by meteor showers! In the morning, we met the new girl. She says her name is Kairi and she has red hair. I think we'll become good friends…

"This was when we were seven years old! Boy, this book really is old…" Sora muttered under his breath as he flipped about twenty pages.

Dear Journal

We are almost finished building our raft! It's unbelievable that, in a few days, I'm going to be on an adventure with my three best friends! I can't wait! I just hope that this storm doesn't get too fierce. I'd better go check on the raft…

Dear Journal

HELP! Journal, I'm so scared. That storm was basically some sort of invasion of shadows. When I checked on the raft, a couple of shadows that looked like bugs attacked me! I didn't know what to do until suddenly, some sort of long weapon with a heart at its end materialized in my hands. Then, a huge wind sent me flying and I ended up in some gloomy little town. Right now, I'm in some accessory shop, safe and sound, waiting for Sora to wake up. Could you believe I found him here? He has a weapon too, but his has the shape of a large key. I'm so confused, what is going on? And where are Kairi and Riku?

Sora stopped reading and shut the book swiftly when he heard some sort of sound. It came from outside and sounded like… was it singing? He got up slowly and crept towards the doors and opened them a slight little bit. He was right, someone was singing. He peeked through the little opening and spotted someone very familiar. Akyra held onto the railings outside and sang softly:

_Dearly Beloved where are you_

_I can't go on without you_

_My world has stopped spinning for good_

_I need to find you if only I could…_

Being the clumsy person he always was, Sora leaned against the door, causing it to open completely, sending him tumbling to the floor.

"Don't tell me that just happened…" Sora groaned.

"Sorry, but it did just happen," Akyra said, helping Sora up.

"I asked you not to tell me that!" Sora said playfully, brushing the dust off his shorts.

Akyra chuckled and asked, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Let's see, I couldn't sleep, I broke the lamp in my room, I heard you singing and then I fell from the door," Sora said sarcastically.

"Aw, I can't believe you heard me…" Akyra said, her face glowing bright pink in embarrassment.

"No way, I think you sing well. What is that song anyways?"

"Well, my dad taught it to me when I was younger and told me that it was my mom's song. In fact, that's all he ever told me about my mom… And why aren't you asleep?"

"I was too excited! I can't wait to go to Hollow Bastion and save Kairi and finally go back to our island!"

At this statement, Akyra's facial expression changed from playful to miserable. She hung her head in sadness and turned around to face the empty district.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked curiously.

"It's just that, when I think about it, we'll save Kairi in no time and open the door to the light and then we'll end up on our island again, just like old times…"

"Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes but… Our adventure will be over. Then we'll go back to being bored on our island with nothing to do."

"That's true, but look on the bright side. You'll have memories of your adventures to treasure forever!"

"Just memories of adventures aren't good enough for me! Sora, I want to be free! I just want to be on an endless adventure and always have fun! Why, I'll get myself into danger if it means adventure! I know, we all age sometime… but does our heart have to?"

Sora stared at his friend for a long time. She was a spunky, adventurous person stuck in a world of dullness. "But, Akyra! The adventure of a lifetime is just ahead! In a few hours, we're going to go to this 'Hollow Bastion' place, save Kairi, save Riku as well, fight the darkness and so on! It's not over yet! In fact, our adventure is just beginning…"

Akyra smiled happily and said, "You really know how to make me feel better. What's that?" She pointed to the book in Sora's hand.

"That? That is uh… I don't know! I found it on the floor and I was about to open it until I heard you singing and uh… Yeah, that's it," he lied.

"Open it. Let's see what it says!" Akyra said excitedly. Sora awkwardly opened the book and read the title one the first page, "Akyra's Secret Journal…"

"What! Give me that!" She said angrily, snatching the book from Sora's hand, "You didn't read anything, did you?"

Sora shook his head; another lie.

"Good then, let's keep it that way!" Akyra said as she marched towards her room, Sora following suit.

"Good night, Sora," she said when she reached her door, "No peeking in my journal!"

"Don't worry I won't," Sora assured her, feeling a little guilty that he lied. "Good night, Akyra."

* * *

"Alright, I installed the Gummi piece. But you guys have to promise me that you'll be careful. That place is swarming with Heartless," Cid warned them.

"We'll be careful. Don't you worry!" Goofy said happily as he boarded the Gummi ship along with the rest.

"Good luck!" Cid shouted at them as he watched the ship take off for the new world...

* * *

Me: Now you'll getyour destruction!  
Audience: Any more Sora/Akyra sweetness and we'll kick you!  
Akyra: Oh look! There's a spider on your shoulder!  
Audience: EEHH! Where! Where! Get it off!  
Akyra: April Fools! Mwhahahaha! 


	33. New Theories And Rising Falls

Me: Hollow Bastion... The mother of all worlds...  
Akyra: Ooohhh...  
Audience: DESTRUCTION! YIPEE!  
Me: I never thought I'd make it here!  
Akyra: But you did!  
Me: (points at you) What are you waiting for? GO READ!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Akyra. Sheesh, who even reads this?

* * *

The Gummi ship hovered in the air, not daring to go any closer to the lopsided castle ruins that stood before it. Inside the Gummi ship, the four friends were very silent, either clutching on to something or staring directly at the castle. Finally, after several moments of silence, Goofy spoke. 

"Gwarsh, is this really the place where Maleficent is?"

"Yeah, yeah it is…" Donald said in fear.

"Are we all ready to land?" Akyra asked in a low, practically silent voice.

"Okay guys, this is it," Sora started, "We've got to stick together and believe we can make it. I want you guys to promise this." Sora placed his hand in the middle of the ship.

"We've got to believe we can do this," Goofy said, placing his hand above Sora's.

"We've got to stick together," Donald said, placing his hand above theirs.

"All for one and one for all," Akyra concluded, placing her hand above the rest.

"All right. Let's land!" Sora finished. Donald pushed a few buttons and sent the Gummi ship slowly floating towards the world they've been dreading.

* * *

The area they landed in was very different from any world they've ever seen. Small platforms were scattered around the air and their surroundings were entirely consisted of waterfalls. Except, these waterfalls were different. They were rising upward instead of falling to the ground like regular waterfalls. 

"Be on your guard guys," Sora cautioned as he jumped on the nearest platform, the others following his lead.

They leapt from platform to platform until they finally came upon the largest platform. Sora was ready to jump when suddenly, Akyra grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Don't go just yet! There is someone already there!" she warned him. Instead, the four friends hid behind the platform and watched the scene. A large beast dressed in a purple robe stood before Riku, growling fiercely at the evil boy.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku asked evilly.

"I simply believed. When our world was swallowed by darkness, Belle was taken away from me. I vowed I would find her. So here I am, prepared to take her back!" the beast roared.

"Take her if you can!" Riku threatened, readying his blade for battle.

The beast yelled in fury and charged at Riku, but was knocked back by a slice of Riku's sword. Sora couldn't take it anymore. He leapt on the platform and screeched, "Stop it!"

At the sight of this, Riku chuckled wickedly and said, "So you have finally made it… It's about time. I've been waiting for you. Where are your idiot allies?"

"We're right here!" Goofy said as he jumped on to the platform along with the other two.

"And we're NOT idiots!" Donald quacked furiously. Ignoring them, Riku turned his gaze to Sora once again.

"We've always been enemies, haven't we? We've always been fighting each other, trying to prove who was stronger. But it all ends here, now. There can't be two Keyblade masters!" Riku boomed.

"WHAT!" Sora shrieked in shock.

"Let the Keyblade choose its true master!" Riku shouted.

For several minutes, nothing of particular interest happened. Suddenly, the Keyblade started twitching and moving, trying to make its way to Riku. Sora tried hard to resist but it was no use. The Keyblade jerked out of his hand and flew over to Riku, placing itself in his right hand.

"Maleficent was right!" Riku said ecstatically, gazing at his newfound weapon, "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's all up to me. Only I can open the door and change the world forever!"

"How can this be!" Sora shrieked at the top of his voice, "I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade."

"You were just the delivery boy," Riku sneered, "Your part's over now! Here, go play hero with this." Riku summoned a small wooden sword and chucked it at his rival. Sora's face suddenly flushed as he stared at his old toy sword, falling to his knees. Riku grinned evilly and walked off.

"Come on, Goofy. Remember our mission?" Donald asked.

"I know but…" Goofy said sadly, taking one last look at Sora and joining Donald.

"I'm sorry, Sora…" Donald said softly as he joined Riku's side.

"Well, Staff bearer? Do you remember your mission?" Riku asked.

"Yes…" Akyra said meekly and gazed at her weapon.

_I'm supposed to follow the Keyblade and keep it safe from any danger…but I can't leave Sora like this, _she thought. The more she gazed at her weapon, the angrier she got.

Finally, Akyra's eyes met with Riku's as she said, "If wielding the Staffblade means serving and protecting you, then I want nothing to do with it." Akyra raised her Staff for the last time and threw at Riku's feet.

"So, you choose to stay with Sora. Fine! Let's see what you can do with this!" Riku boomed angrily as he threw to little fans at her and walked away, Donald and Goofy following his lead. Sighing heavily, Akyra sat down by Sora's side, staring at her old play battle weapons.

"Akyra…" Sora whispered. Akyra watched her friend, waiting for the rest. "Thank you…" he finished.

"It was nothing…" she answered, wiping a few tears from her cheek.

"Don't cry," Sora said, picking himself up and offering her a helping hand, "we'll find a way out of this, somehow…"

"You're right," she confessed, "we'll be okay!" She snapped her fingers and suddenly, a small ball of fire appeared at her fingertips.

"Well, what do you know?" she chuckled happily, "I guess I can still cast magic!"

"That's great!" Sora cheered but was interrupted by a long and painful groan. They whirled around and saw the beast trying to get up.

"Don't move! Your hurt," Sora yelled, running towards him.

"Why did you come here? I came to retrieve Belle. Though I am on my own, I will still fight for her!" the beast said, getting up with their help.

"We came to find someone very important to us too," Akyra answered.

"And we're not going to give up now!" Sora said happily, raising his wooden sword in the air in triumph.

* * *

"You have the Keyblade? Just in time! You'll need the Keyblade for your next assignment," Maleficent said evilly. 

"Assignment? What assignment?" Riku asked curiously.

"I've found an even quicker way to get Kairi's heart back," Maleficent answered. At the sound of this, Riku listened to Maleficent's instructions carefully. "If we replace Kairi's heart with someone else's, my research says that she will still awaken, even with the heart of another. Your assignment is to get someone to replace Kairi's heart."

"I know! I'll get Sora!" Riku said excitedly, the thought of Kairi finally awakening making him happier by the second.

"Actually, dear boy, I had someone else in mind…"

"Who? I'll get them no matter what!"

"Such enthusiasm!" Maleficent chuckled, "Not anybody's heart will do. You need a heart that is closest to Kairi's…" Suddenly, Maleficent's expression changed from normal to anger.

"Kill the boy. If the castaway is with him, kill them both. If the girl is with them, bring her here. Her heart will make a wonderful replacement."

Once he understood his assignment, Riku bolted out the door, Maleficent's cruel laughs echoing off the cold castle walls.

* * *

Me: Even after finally making it to Hollow Bastion, I still managed to write a short chapter!  
Audience: Destruction?  
Me: Next chapter!  
Audience: Awww...  
Akyra: I think I'm going to like Hollow Bastion!  
Me: Trust me, you won't like it anymore after you find out what happens...  
Akyra: What do you mean? (shifty eyes) 


	34. A Successful Assignment

Audience: (hand me a paper)  
Me: What's this?  
Audience: It's a complaint from the Sora/Kairi pairing fans.  
Me: (reads complaint) Oh, so they want me to quit putting Sora/Akyra sweetness in my ficcy?  
Akyra: What are going to do about it?  
Me: Same thing I do everytime. (rips up complaint and throws it in the fire) Burn the evidence and pretend it never happened!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Akyra. Are you going to send me a complaint for that too? 0.o

* * *

"So, Sora, any more bright ideas?" Akyra asked sarcastically. 

Earlier, they had discovered a huge locked gate and decided to try to find some sort of key to open it. Sora had suggested exploring the waterway underneath the castle. But the moment they had started their little hunt by turning a wide corner, they ended up in an endless maze of brick walls and dripping water.

"Hold on a second, I'm thinking," Sora replied, scratching his head in thought, "Now if we turn right, we'll end up in a dead end, but if we go straight, we'll-"

"Get lost again?" Akyra answered. "Yep. But if we turn left, we'll… no wait we just turned left. If we go back and take the bubble on the right, then…" Sora said, confused.

"How about I try knocking down this wall? It seems a little weak," Beast suggested.

"The best idea I've heard today," Sora answered, stepping away from the wall. Beast carefully examined the wall and then, with a low growl, he charged towards the wall and slashed it with his claws. The bricks on the wall quickly fell apart and landed on the stone floor with a crash, leaving a gaping hole where the wall used to be.

"Wow…" Sora said, gazing at Beast in awe.

"Guys, look at that!" Akyra interrupted. Behind the wall Beast had knocked down was an immense number of gears and locks. But, caught in the middle of the two largest gears was a tiny stone that stopped them from turning.

"So this is the problem!" Sora said happily as he removed the small stone and watched the two gears turn to work again. A clicking sound suddenly rang in the distance.

"Its sounds like the gates we were trying to get through are finally unlocked!" Beast said excitedly.

"Come on, let's go! Sora answered and skipped towards the exit, the other two following by his side.

* * *

"Here we are!" Akyra announced the moment they had reached the entrance to the castle gates. 

Their bright pink and purple colours gleamed in the light as Sora approached them and tugged the two silver handles. The tall doors opened slowly, revealing a dimly lit purple room, with two golden winding staircases leading to the second floor. Bronze pots decorated the sides and corners. Sora bravely took the first step into the eerie room, Akyra following right behind him. Beast was about to do the same until suddenly, the gates slammed shut in front of him right as he was about to enter. The two teenagers whirled around and ran for the door, attempting to open it and let their friend enter. But the gates were locked, just as they were before.

"What is going on here?" Sora asked curiously, a twitch of worry in his voice. Akyra shrugged her shoulders. Nothing was making any sense at all.

"You had better quit while you can," a deep, menacing voice came from behind them. Sora and Akyra turned around slowly, not daring to believe who was behind them. Riku, who was wearing some new, evil attire, stood before them, Donald and Goofy positioned at his side just as they always did with Sora.

"No…" Sora growled, "Not without Kairi!"

"Your loss. The darkness will destroy you," Riku sneered, the Heartless symbol on his chest glowing brightly.

"You're wrong. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!" Sora said.

"Let's see if your heart can withstand this!" Riku answered and fired a large ball of energy in his direction. Sora cowered over, trying to avoid the hit.

_What did I just do? I am such an idiot!_ He thought over and over. Here he was standing up to Riku who could destroy him in seconds while he didn't even have a weapon to defend himself. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the hit. Until…

"Stop!" cried Akyra. The sound of the attack approaching stopped instantly and utter silence followed. Sora lifted his head and checked what was going on. Akyra stood in front of him, her arms stretched out. The large ball of energy hung in the air in front of them as if it had been frozen in time.

"How…how did you?" Sora stammered, practically speechless.

"Just a little trick I picked up in Neverland," Akyra whispered back.

"So you choose to protect a pheasant over supreme power? I'll never understand you, Akyra," Riku said slyly.

"A pheasant he may be but a true friend he will stay forever in my heart!" She answered threateningly.

"I agree!" came a voice from Riku's side. Goofy stepped forward, glaring evilly at Riku.

"You'd betray your king?" he teased.

"Never on your life! I can't betray my friends because someone ordered me to do so!" Goofy replied as he marched towards the two teenagers, leaving his place alongside the Key master.

"Donald? Can you tell the king that I'm really sorry?" Donald picked up his head, an angry glower forming on his face.

"Wait, Goofy! We'll tell him together!" he answered as he ran to join their side.

"Well, looks like you guys are stuck with us," Goofy said, patting Sora on his shoulder. Sora looked as if he was about to cry. He picked up his head and said, "Donald…Goofy…Thank you…"

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku sneered, apparently still thinking highly of himself.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade." Sora said, picking himself up, "I've got a better weapon. My heart."

"Your heart? Ha! Don't make me laugh," Riku taunted shamelessly.

Sora still continued, readying his wooden sword for battle, "Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don't forget me...then our hearts will be one. I don't need the Keyblade. My friends are my power!"

The moment he had finished his speech, something odd happened. The Keyblade in Riku's hand jerked suddenly and started pulling towards Sora, like a lost puppy anxious to join its master. Finally, it disappeared in a flash of blinding light and reappeared in Sora's hands. Riku watched this happen, stunned and confused. He quickly whipped out a dark, red sword and said, "Fine. Show me the power of your heart!"

* * *

"Alright, everybody scatter! Attack at will!" Sora ordered once the battle commenced. Donald and Goofy obeyed shamelessly and attacked Riku, slashing him whenever they had the chance. Akyra, though, still didn't retrieve her staff but helped out the three warriors by firing a few spells from time to time. 

"Thunder! Yay! What should I use next? Let's see, how about some fire?" she squealed happily from the sidelines, apparently adoring firing magic spells. The battle continued and Riku got weaker and weaker with every hit. Finally, Sora slashed him one last time and watched as Riku dropped to the ground, his head hanging in disbelief.

"Who's stronger know, Riku?" Sora asked in a bossy tone of voice, pointing his Keyblade triumphantly to Riku's saddened face. He lifted himself up quietly and then started to smile. It was weird to see someone who had just lost a battle smile so slyly and so happily. Yet Riku grinned evilly, as if he knew something they didn't.

"I have something you want…" he said spitefully. He waved his hand and almost instantly, the Staffblade appeared in his hands with a flash of white light.

"Hand it over, you know very well it's mine," Akyra answered, stepping forward in anger. Riku smirked and gazed at the weapon resting in his hands. Staring at it, he thought. He thought hard about what Maleficent had told him, what he must accomplish, when suddenly, an idea floated in his dark little mind. An idea so cruel, so simple, it might actually work.

"You want it?" he taunted, "then come get it. Bet you can't catch me!" With that, he took off for the stairs, squealing in delight.

"Who do you think you are?" Sora scolded, "We have no time for games. We won fair and square so hand it over!"

"But, Sora! Don't you remember how much fun we used to have when we played tag? And plus, I promise to give you your precious weapon back when you catch me," Riku answered as he ran towards the library.

"Riku is one weird kid…" Goofy admitted, joining the others on their pursuit against Riku.

* * *

"You can't catch me!" Riku teased once more. The four friends felt kind of silly chasing Riku around the library, playing a friendly game of tag. Since when does Riku play a friendly game of tag? But he still ran around the library, laughing and smiling just like old times. 

_There has got to be some sort of catch here… _Sora thought as he attempted to grab Riku who halted in front of him for a break. He narrowly missed him by two inches. Riku merely chuckled at this and continued on running. He had a plan. And he made sure that nothing would make his plan go wrong, not even Sora. But making his own enemies chase him around the library? How could this be a devious, wicked plan? Yet Riku still continued, an evil look in his aqua eyes. The game of tag went on for several minutes and everyone started to grow tired. Akyra became especially tired, barely running and clutching her heart for breath.

"You guys go on… I'll catch up…" She said, breathing heavily. The rest nodded and continued following Riku.

"What in the world does he think he's doing?" She thought out loud, leaning near the wall. She concentrated too hard on catching her breath than to notice something moving behind her. A shadow had slipped in while they were running after Riku, but the gang was too focused on catching him than to notice the shadow that lurked behind them. It crept slowly towards Akyra, who had instantly spotted its shadow on the ground beneath her. Gasping, she whirled around fast enough to see two huge, shadowy arms rise above her. As she was about to scream, the shadow snatched her in its clutches and they both disappeared in a flash of dark energy. Her muffled shriek for help was all that could be heard…

* * *

"Alright, you had your fun, now hand over the staff," Sora said angrily, clutching Riku. They had finally caught him after all this time. 

A sad frown broke across his face as he said, "Okay you win. Here you go." He whipped out the Staffblade and placed it in Sora's hands. Sora, startled by this, answered, "That's it? No catch? We just catch you and then you give it to us just like that?"

"Sure, I said I'd give it back if you catch and you did. So there's your prize," Riku said.

"You have just made an awful mistake, Riku," Sora said triumphantly.

"I have made a mistake? Pardon me, but it's you who made a mistake…" Riku said slyly, grinning his usual evil grin, "You call yourself a Keyblade master? You can't even keep a simple promise!"

"What are you talking about? I always keep my promises!" Sora yelled furiously.

"Oh really?" Riku taunted. Just then, a muffled screech was heard somewhere deep in the library. "Hear that? That scream means you just broke one!" With that, Riku disappeared into a portal of darkness.

"He's gone nuts…" Sora concluded, chuckling happily, "Anyways, Akyra, I believe this is yours!"

The three of them turned around to face Akyra. But when he caught a glimpse of what was behind him, Sora thought he would faint. There behind them, where Akyra usually stood, was nothing but emptiness. She had disappeared into thin air.

"Where is she?" Goofy questioned as he called out her name very loudly. Nobody answered. Riku's words had come back to haunt Sora. He remembered how he promised her he would keep her safe; how he promised he never let anything bad ever happen to her. His hands shook violently as he dropped the Staffblade, which landed with a loud crash.

"Sora, are you okay?" Donald quacked silently. Sora simply shook his head as he fell to his knees. A lonely tear swelled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheek.

"Don't worry, Sora. We'll find her…" Goofy assured him, patting him on the shoulder.

"First I lose Kairi and now… Akyra too?" he choked. More tears streamed down his face as he buried it in his hands. _Akyra, where are you? Will I ever find you and Kairi again?_

* * *

Audience: It's awful quiet around here... Hey where's Akyra?  
Me: Didn't you read the chappie? She's been kidnapped!  
Audience: Ohh... YA! (start celebrating with sugar)  
Me: 0.0 Don't you have any feelings for Akyra? Ooh, sugar! (eats sugar) 


	35. Heart Exchange

Me: Yes, I know this chappie took forever... But look on the bright side! The chappie's here!  
Audience: Should we be proud?  
Akyra: Yes you should! Here, have some garlic soda.  
Me: Akyra, aren't you supposed to be kidnapped?  
Akyra: But I don't like being kidnapped. Besides, who was going to introduce you all to garlic soda if I was kidnapped?  
Me: Garlic soda?  
Audience: (tastes garlic soda) Mm, this ish so good!  
Me: 0.o

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Akyra and this garlic soda! Unless someone has already invented it. 0.0 Ewww...

* * *

The four friends exited the library and found themselves standing where they had fought Riku moments before. Without a word, Sora marched angrily towards a door on the far left side of the wall. The door was a bright purple colour with the black Heartless symbol engraved in the middle. 

"What is it, Sora?" Donald asked, joining his side with Goofy trailing behind.

Sora gazed at the wall and said, "There are pieces missing from this door…"

"So that's what they're for!" Goofy happily exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Donald asked. Goofy reached into his pocket and took out three brightly coloured pieces of stone.

"While you were comforting Sora, I found three colourful pieces. I thought maybe they would come in handy, and plus, they were so purdy…"

"Goofy, you genius!" Sora yelled, snatching the pieces from his hands and inserting them into the door.

"Those are three words I never thought anybody would say," Donald confessed. But as Sora placed the last piece, they quickly realized that one piece was missing.

"Well, so much for that idea…" Sora said sadly, hanging his head in disbelief again.

"Not so fast. You're no giving up are you?" Beast questioned. Sora didn't answer. Instead he kept leaning on the wall, depressed.

"It just so happens that I found the last piece," Beast said. With those words, Sora jerked up in shock and gazed at the bright pink-coloured piece in his paws.

"Where did you find it?" Donald asked.

"Would you believe it was right underneath the staircases?" he answered, turning away from him to face Sora, "Do your job, Keyblade master."

Sora nodded and placed the final piece in its socket. The door began to shake slightly and started to ascend higher and higher until a large corridor stood before them. With a smile on his face, Sora raised his weapon and said, "Come on, guys! We've got friends to save!"

* * *

"Maleficent! Maleficent! I did it!" Riku shouted proudly as he entered a large, dark room. 

"Dear boy, I'm so proud! Now, where is she?" Maleficent sneered. Riku pulled Akyra with all his strength to the centre of the room. She tried hard to resist but Riku's clutches were far mightier than her. Her wrists and ankles were tied with chains and two scarves covered her face; one covered her mouth and the other, her eyes.

"So this is the famous little Staff bearer. You're nothing more than an annoying sidekick. Tie her up in the corner until everything's ready!" Maleficent boomed as she strolled away. Riku quickly set her in one of the corners and removed the two scarves the covered her face.

"Let me go!" She shrieked. Riku simply grinned evilly and rejoined Maleficent. Akyra took this time to scan the room she was in. The room resembled more of a large corridor with dimly lit yellow lamps on the sides. What really caught her eye was what was standing underneath those lamps. Six maidens were aligned by the wall, their eyes tightly shut as if asleep. Four of them didn't seem familiar but the last two made Akyra let out a slight gasp. Alice and Jasmine, the ones she and her friends were searching for on their journey to other worlds, were in Hollow Bastion the whole time. I wonder what they're up to she thought, gazing at the centre of the room. There was one last maiden, but this one seemed to be stretched out on a low table, as if she was asleep. She was a red-haired, purple skirt someone…

"Kairi…" Akyra whispered, shocked by her discovery. She stared at her old friend for several minutes. It was kind of awkward watching one of your best friends lay somewhere unconscious for a long while. She quickly took her gaze off Kairi when she heard the approaching footsteps of her enemies.

_I've got to get out of here…but how?_ She thought. If only she had some sort of messenger... "Jiminy!" she murmured slightly as she unzipped her pocket. Jiminy sprung out instantly, as if he had been locked in her pocket for decades.

"Akyra! I heard threatening voices! What is going on?" he asked frantically, alert about the situation.

"There is no time for that," Akyra started, "Listen. You're small. You can easily dodge Heartless without being seen. You have to find Sora and tell him to come here as quickly as possible."

"But I don't even know where we are! How do you expect me to find him and bring him back?"

"It's a direct road from here to the castle gates, no labyrinths and no secret turns. You're bound to run in to him on your way down. Tell him I'm in trouble and I need his help..."

"Okay. Hold on and don't go anywhere while I'm gone!" With that, the cricket hopped off her hand and ran as fast as his little legs can take him through a hole in the wall.

"I'm counting on you, Jiminy!" Akyra whispered after him as she turned to watch the two villains who had arrived and stood in front of her. Through the deafening silence of the chamber, she could make out a few of the words they were saying:

"Process… Akyra…heart…Kairi…complete…"

"Do I make myself clear, Riku?" Maleficent said louder this time. Riku nodded his head, apparently happy about whatever Maleficent had told him. Disgusted by the intrigue, Akyra snapped her fingers and conjured a small ball of fire in her right hand. She pointed it to Maleficent and fired it without a struggle. The weak fire blast hit both of them squarely in the face. The two villains quickly spun around to face the teenager with angry expressions on their faces.

"What's going on here? I want answers!" She yelled at them. Maleficent smiled wickedly and said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt you to know since you won't be here to remember it…" Akyra's eyes went wide at this statement.

"Do you mind telling me!" She asked, getting angrier by the second.

"It's a shame someone so energetic must leave forever… Kairi's heart is missing, you must know that already. And without her heart, the Keyhole cannot be completed, and this stops me from achieving my goal. According to some research I have done, if we replace Kairi's heart with someone else's, she will still awaken even though the heart within her is not rightfully hers. Riku here has done the pleasure of kidnapping you so we can use your heart to put into Kairi as a substitute. Do you understand now?"

Akyra was speechless, a nervous look of horror and confusion on her face. That's why they kidnapped her. She had nothing they wanted in particular except a replacement heart. A heart that would be used to awaken Kairi… She picked up her head and stared at them in rage, still dumbfounded by the finding of their evil plans.

"Startling, isn't it?" Maleficent hissed as she approached the frightened girl. "Don't you worry. This won't hurt a bit…"

The witch motioned her right hand. At first, nothing happened. Then, out of nowhere, tiny strips of shadow slithered around Akyra, like a predator circling its prey. More and more shadows appeared, getting bigger and bigger with time. They covered her whole body as if they were about to engulf her in everlasting darkness. Finally, they glided and stopped at one side of her chest; there where her heart resided. Akyra quickly shut her eyes, not daring to see what was going to happen next. She had shut her eyes just in time for a crystal, blue heart shape began to rise out of her right as she closed her eyes. The moment the last piece of her heart left her, Akyra's head drooped lazily along with the rest of her body. Her struggling stopped abruptly and she didn't move at all. Not even the sound of her breathing was heard. She just lay there motionless and unconscious; heartless, you may say… Maleficent cackled wickedly as she watched Akyra's heart glowing brightly in the dim room. She carefully balanced the heart in the air and approached Kairi's lifeless body, placing it so it hovered on top of her. The heart slowly sank into Kairi. Maleficent and Riku watched her eagerly, waiting for the long lost princess to wake up. After a few minutes, Kairi's nose twitched and she lazily opened her eyes.

"Where am I…?" she asked slowly.

"Kairi… I don't believe it! You're awake!" Riku shrieked with joy as he hugged his old friend.

"Riku! Where are we? What is this place?" she asked again.

"You won't have to worry about that anymore, Kairi. I'm getting you out of here!" he answered, grabbing her hand and whirling around to face Maleficent. "Maleficent, I can't thank you enough! I…. Maleficent? What's wrong?" Maleficent's face had turned bright red and she looked angrier than she had ever been.

"The Keyhole is not complete! It makes no sense! I replaced the last princess' heart! It should work now! Why is the Keyhole not complete!"

"Riku, what is she talking about?" Kairi whispered.

"That's a sign that we should really get out of here. Come on, follow me," he answered, passing by Akyra's frozen body. At the sight of this, Kairi screeched so loudly she could have broken windows if there were any around. The screech caused Riku to turn around so quickly he slipped.

"What's wrong?" he asked frantically.

"Akyra! She's just lying here! Riku we have to do something!"

"There's no time for that. Here I'll explain to you on the way out." With that, he grabbed her hand and bolted out of the room, causing Kairi to stumble as she tried to keep up with him.

In the south side of the room, Maleficent was raged. She shrieked at the top of her lungs and broke small little instruments, anything that would get in her way. It is shocking how something so small can enrage someone so big. And now we ask ourselves, why didn't the Keyhole complete itself like it should have? Was it because Akyra isn't a Princess of Heart? Did Maleficent miscalculate somewhere? No, none of this is the answer… Perhaps if Maleficent had read a certain passage from Merlin's magic book would she have understood why her plan didn't work, for this is what it read:

Merlin's Magic Book  
Chapter 32: Controlling Hearts and Heart Exchange  
Page 487 Paragraph 3

" _To exchange a heart is one of the most simplest uses of magic. All you need is to withdraw a heart from someone and place it into the new owner's body. They will awaken instantly. But, if we exchange a heart in order to unleash a certain power, then two rules must be taken into effect. First: the heart must be avenged. To avenge the heart, simply replace the old owner's heart with a new one. This will allow their heart to blend in with their new owner. Second: The heart must be unlocked. There is only one way you can unlock a heart. It is a rare and special moment when the Keyblade and the Staffblade fuse together to create the ultimate weapon. This weapon is the only weapon that can successfully unlock a heart. Once these two requirements are taken into affect, the heart will now belong to its new owner. Only then will the heart be able to unleash its true power…"_

* * *

Me: Mwahaha! Who would've thunk it?  
Audience: (tear) Brilliant use of death and destruction... (drinks garlic soda)  
Akyra: How could you drink that stuff?  
Audience: It's sooo good...  
Akyra: I'll show you good! (blasts audience) How do you like that!  
Me: We seriously need therapy...  
Akyra: Really? What a coincidence! We have a therapy chair right here! (pulls out therapy chair)  
Me: 0.0 


	36. Maleficent's New Apprentice

Audience: (crying) We really aren't monsters like that! Just because we hate everything that exists except for garlic soda, people call us heartless and inhuman!  
Therapist: You do realize that this is abnormal, in a way?  
Audience: We are just like that because we were programmed to be mean! By some crazy authoress' nifty imagination!  
Me: My imagination is NOT nifty!  
Audience: Sure it is! Have you taken a look at Akyra?  
Akyra: Excuse me? Would you like to be burnt to a crisp?  
Audience: Bring it on, pink hair!  
Everyone: Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!  
Me: O.o

P.S. Someone has recently asked me howto pronounce the name Akyra. The correct way to pronounce her name is A-kai-ra. Hope I answered your question!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I guess I don't own Jerry Springer either. But my nifty little imagination does own Akyra!

* * *

"So, I was asleep all this time?" Kairi asked, trying to keep up with Riku. 

"Something like that. You had no heart, therefore you couldn't really live," Riku replied, slowing down so Kairi can catch up.

"How did you wake me up, then?" she asked curiously.

"We simply took someone else's heart and put it inside you."

"Well…" Kairi started, stopping in her tracks, "What about the other person? The one you took the heart from. I'm not sure they'd be very happy with the idea of getting their heart removed to wake me up."

Riku stopped running as well and turned to face her, "It doesn't matter what they think. The only thing that matters is you being awake."

"Riku! How heartless of you! How could you even say something like that?"

"Because it's the truth!" Riku stormed, "It doesn't matter! Nothing matters anymore! I couldn't care less about anything other than you being safe…"

"So…what you're saying is that you'd betray even your best friends just to save me? Any other person would be flattered but I am outraged. Riku, how could you?"

"Kairi," Riku sighed, "I-I just wanted to see you again. I would have done anything to save you! Besides… Akyra doesn't need a heart…"

As soon as she heard this, Kairi picked up her head and gazed at him for a long time. She was stunned to find out how Riku would betray even his closest friends just to save her. Should she be grateful? Still, the Riku she once knew would never do this sort of devious thing. He would never betray his closest friends to save only one of them. "You're… you're not Riku," she said slowly, her gaze turning into an angry frown.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm Riku!"

"The Riku I knew would never do this. Whoever you are, let Riku go!" She looked as if she was about to scream at him until heavy footsteps in the distance caught her attention. The sound was growing louder and louder, as if they were walking their way. Riku and Kairi glanced at the east corridor and waited for whoever it was to arrive. Finally, Sora, Donald and Goofy stumbled out of the corridor, whipping out their weapons at the mere sight of Riku.

"Riku, you've played around with us long enough!" Sora bellowed, "Where is-… Kairi?"

Sora couldn't believe his eyes. Standing right next to Riku was the person he was always searching for, probably even the main reason of his whole journey. After all this searching, he finally found what he was looking for.

"Sora!" Kairi squealed, running towards him with a scared look on her face. She was terrified of this new, manipulative Riku and wanted to escape from him as soon as possible. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face.

"Help me, Sora. Please…" she whispered.

"Don't worry, Kairi," Sora assured her, wiping a tear from her eyes, "You're safe now."

"Kairi?" Riku asked, horrified, "Why are you doing this?" Kairi simply stared at him with a horrified expression on her face. Riku frowned at her response and stormed out of the room, taking anger and frustration along with him.

"So this is Kairi?" Goofy asked after Riku had left. Sora nodded and introduced his old friend to his allies.

"Yeah, this is Kairi. Kairi, this is Donald and Goofy. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for them."

"Nice to meet you," Kairi said politely as she patted Donald on his feathery head.

"Should we bring her back to Traverse Town, just so she could be safe?" Donald asked, changing the subject.

"We can't leave Hollow Bastion just yet, not without Akyra. We'll just have to protect Kairi the best we can until we find her," Sora answered.

"You'd better hurry then," Kairi said.

"What are you saying, Kairi? Do you know where she is? Is she in trouble?" Sora asked, concerned for the sake of his friend.

"I'm pretty sure I know where she is. Apparently Riku took her heart and put it in me so I would wake up. I-it's complicated…"

"That's okay. Kairi, you're a lifesaver!" Sora answered proudly, hugging his friend. "Alright, guys" he declared, finally letting go of Kairi, "We've got a friend to save!" With that, the four of them marched out of the room, ensuring that Kairi was safe at all times.

* * *

Riku raced around the castle, lost in his own thoughts and consumed by jealousy. All the past events were a blur to him now but they still confused him more and more. Why did all this happen? He had the power to stop it, yet he was still defeated by it…by someone. 

"I don't get it!" he cried, his voice echoing throughout the huge corridor, "It was mine… B-but he still found a way to take it from me…why?"

"His heart was stronger," a peculiar voice said. Riku stopped in his tracks and turned to face the area where the voice came from. Before him stood a man entirely covered by a cloak.

"Only the strongest and truest heart shall wield the Keyblade," the cloaked figure continued, moving towards Riku.

"Are you saying my heart's weaker than his? And what about Kairi?" he asked, suspicious about this hooded being.

"The girl fled because she didn't feel safe with you. But I know a way to change that. Why, the deeper you thrust into darkness, the stronger your heart becomes. Don't you want that, Riku?" Riku stared dumbfounded at the man, surprised that he knew his name. They have never met before, so how did he know all this? After a long pause, Riku lifted his head and said, "What must I do?"

"Open your heart to the darkness, that's all. Let it become a part of you, a part of your mind, a part of your heart…" As he spoke, a green light slowly began to brighten more and more behind Riku. The light blinded them both as Riku fell to the floor…

* * *

Maleficent's rage has calmed, but her snarling anger was still present. She wanted revenge…she needed revenge. What could ease this anger she had? The silence of her quiet thinking was quickly broken by a small sound of footsteps in the distance. 

"The king's fools are here. I may as well go finish them off!" she said furiously, scurrying past Akyra's lifeless body and storming out of her dungeon.

* * *

"Jiminy, are you sure you know where we're going?" Sora asked. 

"She said that it's a direct route from here to where we were before. No twists and no labyrinths," the cricket said without doubt.

"No labyrinths?" Donald quacked, "Are you serious? This place is the mother of all labyrinths!"

"Okay, so maybe Donald's right, we are a little lost. But we can't give up, can we?" Goofy answered.

"You'll be better off giving up!" a voice boomed in the distance. Suddenly, a small ball of dark energy appeared in front of them. Its many dark colours swirled freely for a few seconds until finally the orb became bigger and revealed the witch herself. Maleficent stood before them, covered in black and purple robes and held a large staff with a green light at the end. A nasty smirk covered her cruel, angry face.

"After coming this far, there is no way we will give up. Especially to you!" Sora threatened.

"You pathetic fools!" Maleficent cried as the floor underneath her began to rise, "You think you can defeat the mistress of evil?"

* * *

The battle continued on and on for several minutes and kept getting fiercer with every moment that passed. Sora, Donald and Goofy attacked her mercilessly while still keeping a very close eye on Kairi. Maleficent also attacked mercilessly, shooting every type of dark magic possible. Still the power of teamwork and friendship overpowered her. The three fighters worked together non-stop and were determined to make the evil witch fall. Finally, after many moments of sword clashing and spell casting, Maleficent had had enough and created a strange portal of dark magic, through which she fled. 

"She's escaping!" Donald warned.

"Quick guys, after her!" Sora ordered, running towards the portal she had created. With a last glance around the room, Sora clutched tightly onto Kairi's hand and jumped into the dark portal alongside Kairi.

The portal had transported them all into a slightly circular room. An eerie green light shone from the floor and old tree vines covered practically all sources of lighting. Near the centre of the room, Maleficent was breathing heavily and clutching her heart, as if she was nearly defeated. By her side stood Riku, a strange weapon grasped in his hands. It sort of looked like Sora's Keyblade except for the fact that this one had darkness written all over it. It was entirely black with a few red tones here and there.

"Riku?" Kairi whispered fearfully.

"Is that a…" Sora started, but could barely finish.

"A Keyblade? Why, yes it is," Riku answered proudly, "But unlike yours, mine can unlock people's hearts. Would you like a demonstration?" With that, he turned to face Maleficent. In a blink of an eye, he pierced Maleficent's heart with his new Keyblade.

"Open your heart to darkness!" He cried, "Let it become darkness itself!"

A strange light began to shine from Maleficent's heart as she bellowed, "This power! It is darkness! True darkness!"

Riku withdrew his Keyblade and vanished right on time, just when a large black dragon appeared where Maleficent stood before. Its ferocious roar and sizzling green flames made the three fighters realize that their battle wasn't over yet.

* * *

The dragon was one of the hardest things they had ever faced off against. It had lit the old tree vines on fire, which made it difficult to attack it without getting burned to a crisp. Kairi was lucky to have found a tiny hiding spot in the corner where the flames wouldn't get her. The dragon let out another cry and spewed more flames to the three fighters. They were blown off their feet and landed on the other side of the room, tired and breathless. 

"What do we do?" Donald asked, panting every now and then.

"We tried everything," Goofy said in disbelief.

"I'm not about to give up, you guys. Sure, this dragon's a little hard. But we've faced harder obstacles before and we somehow managed to pull through. It won't be any different now. I'm going for that dragon! Who's with me?" Sora said proudly, raising his fist in the air. Donald and Goofy smiled and got to their feet. Together, the three friends walked proudly towards their enemy, dodging a few flames here and there.

Sora turned to face them one last time and said, "All for one and one for all right?"

With that, the fighters took a few shots at the dragon, which was startled by the sudden attack. Donald fired his best spells when the dragon's guard was down and Goofy attacked near its back where it couldn't reach him. Their little technique worked great and in a few instants, the dragon collapsed and turned back into Maleficent. She was really hurt badly. Without a word, she rose to her feet and limped away towards the exit. The three fighters didn't see this for they were checking on Kairi and seeing if she was safe.

"How sad," Riku said, appearing out of another dark portal, "She really was just a puppet after all."

"What are you talking about?" Goofy asked suspiciously. "You see, the Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning. She just didn't see how the darkness in her heart was slowly eating her away. She was nothing more than a pathetic fool," he said calmly, turning away from the four friends and disappearing into another portal.

"Well, I'm sure glad that's over with!" Goofy said happily, hugging Donald.

"It's not over yet, guys. We still have to find Akyra," Kairi added in.

"True. Come on guys, follow Jiminy's directions," Sora said as the group jumped out of the portal and continued their hunt for Akyra.

* * *

Maleficent limped back to her dungeon and leaned on the table where Kairi once lay. 

"How could this happen to me!" she choked, trying to yell but can't. "I have nothing left! I've lost my power, my goal, my supremacy… All I have left is an unfinished Keyhole and an empty body with no heart!" She violently punched the table with all the strength that was left in her fists. Suddenly, she smirked. She picked up her head and the smirk formed into a wide smile. Her smile then turned into a wicked laugh that echoed off the dungeon's grungy walls.

* * *

"Jiminy, you are no good with directions…seriously," Donald quacked. 

"I know where I'm going! Sort of…" the little cricket confessed.

"Why don't we all split up?" Goofy suggested.

"Um, guys?" Jiminy warned.

"That's no good. What if one of us gets lost?" Kairi answered.

"Guys! Look, up ahead!" The cricket was jumping frantically on the palm of Sora's hand. He pointed his tiny little finger at the thing that stood before them. It was something, someone, standing in the shadows and draped in long black robes. Could it be?

"Maleficent!" Donald screeched as the witch stepped into the light.

"How many times do we have to fight you?" Sora asked, irritated by the fact that Maleficent was still alive.

"I just thought you would like to meet my new apprentice," she answered, her voice hoarse and gruff.

"You have an apprentice?" Goofy asked curiously.

"Whatever you throw against us, we'll defeat it!" Sora said bravely, "We are a team!"

"Oh, you silly boy. You won't be needing them!" Maleficent waved her hands and pointed them to Donald, Goofy and Kairi. They were suddenly swept off their feet by a strong wind and crashed into of the walls. Angry by this, Donald quickly stood up and ran towards Maleficent. But something stopped him. An invisible barrier of some sort. The three friends were locked behind an invisible wall with no way out.

"That's better," Maleficent said happily. Sora turned to face Maleficent and stared angrily at her. He whipped out his Keyblade and prepared for battle.

"No use preparing yourself, boy. There is no way you can defeat my apprentice. And when she defeats you, she will have enough power to revive me and together, we will rule all worlds!" the witch cackled evilly as a shadowy shape with piercing yellow eyes appeared behind her.

"That will never happen!" Sora shrieked.

"May I add in that if you somehow destroy her… she will never come back." With that, she guffawed and waved her hands once again. Darkness seeped out of her body and floated through the air until it reached her so-called apprentice. More and more darkness left her body until Maleficent was nothing more than a shadowy grey smoke. She was gone.

Sora turned his head and faced her apprentice. It slowly took a few steps forward. Sora readied his weapon once again, making sure he was ready for this battle. But the moment the apprentice stepped into the dim light of the room, Donald, Goofy and Kairi gasped loudly and Sora thought he might die of shock.

It was Akyra.

* * *

Akyra: I'm sorry I burnt you! (cries)  
Audience: We're sorry we called you pink hair! (sob)  
Akyra: Friends?  
Audience: Friends!  
Me: Aw, Akyra and the audience have created an alliance!  
Audience and Akyra: Now, to check our to do list! (checks list) Destroy the authoress for leaving us on a suspenseful ending! (takes out pitchforks)  
Me: I think I'd better start running.  
Therapist: Yes, you should.  
Me: O.o Who said you can stay? GET OUT!  
Therapist: You'll regret it one day! (walks away) 


	37. A Promise Never Broken

Me: (hands out party hats) Hurry! Get these on before the sugar and refreshments arrive!  
Audience: What are these for?  
Me: I'm throwing a huge party to celebrate three special events!  
Akyra: And what are those events?  
Me: My fanficcy, "An Extra Heart", ish celebrating its on year birthday on June 29th!  
Everyone: (cheers)  
Me: I am also celebrating 100 reviews!  
Everyone: (more cheers)  
Me: And the final event is... (blasts song on boom box)  
Alice Cooper on Boom Box: SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!  
Everyone: O.o YAY! (parties)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But who cares? It's summer vacation, baby!(dances)

* * *

Sora gazed in utter shock at the figure that stood before him. It was Akyra, then again it wasn't. Every inch of her was a sad shade of grey and black. Her smile and her spunk were also gone as an air of resentment and depression hung around her. She stared back at Sora, her red eyes piercing through the air like tissue paper. 

"So you're the one they call Keyblade Master," she said in a shadowy voice, circling Sora and twirling her Staffblade.

"You know who I am, Akyra. Sora? Your best friend?" Sora said, hoping she would remember.

"Sora, you say? Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"Sora!" Kairi tipped, "She doesn't have a heart! She can't remember anything at all!"

"Quiet, you little insect!" Akyra barked, "Though I can allow you to say goodbye to a soon-to-be gone friend of yours!" With that, she cackled evilly and drew her weapon.

"Now let's see what you've got, Keyblade Master!"

* * *

Akyra snapped her fingers and conjured a small ball of flame. She twirled it around her finger and threw it effortlessly in Sora's direction. He crouched down just when the ball of fire was about to hit him. Instead, it smashed right into the stone wall and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Akyra grinded her teeth angrily and summoned more magical attacks. Sora dodged every one and this only upset Akyra more. 

"For a silly fool, you do know how to evade," she admitted angrily as she conjured two more thunder spell and sent them both in Sora's direction. With no place to turn, Sora skidded to a halt and ducked. The thunder spells zoomed quickly through the air and caught up with him. One hit him squarely in the head while the other zapped his hands, causing him to fall flat on the floor. Akyra smirked with satisfaction and readied another ice spell. Without giving Sora a chance to rise, she released her ice spell and watched it attack him, overwhelmed with approval. Donald, Goofy and Kairi watched the horrible battle from the sidelines, wishing there was something they could do to help. Just then, Donald screeched, "Sora, why aren't you fighting back!"

"I-I can't hurt Akyra. I made a promise to keep her safe and I'm not about to break it now," he replied.

"But, Sora," Donald started, smiling as if he had found the answer to an unsolvable question, "Would the real Akyra ever do this to you."

At this statement, Sora picked up his head, a shocked expression forming on his face. It's true; Akyra would never do this to her friend even if her life depended on it. And if this Akyra would do anything to finish him off, then she mustn't be the real Akyra. Therefore, he can fight back. He can do anything he wishes.

"I promised never to hurt Akyra," he yelled at his opponent. Akyra suddenly ceased fire, as if she was very interested in what he had to say. "And she promised the same to me. Akyra would never do this. And if you can cause so much destruction with no mercy, then you can't be the real Akyra!"

With that, he stood up and summoned his Keyblade, ready for battle. He then raised his weapon in the air and brought it down with all the strength he had. Heartless Akyra snarled in fury and stopped his attack by raising her Staffblade as well. The battle was on.

The battle raged on for so much time, even the world's best mathematician would have lost count. Even the two fighters grew tired after some time. All that preoccupied Heartless Akyra was getting rid of Sora once and for all. But something else bothered Sora as he tried to dodge her merciless hits; how will he get Akyra's heart back? He didn't know if he could keep up with her fighting any longer. He had to think fast. How do you get someone's heart back? By replacing it with someone else's. No, he could never take someone else's heart to revive another. Just then, an idea popped in his mind. Akyra is a Heartless now and the only way to defeat them is by using the light. What if he helped Akyra find her light? He knew how somewhere deep inside her, her light was sleeping. Maybe, just maybe, if he convinces her how radiant and caring she used to be, her light would awaken and take over this darkness and hopefully get her heart back.

_This may sound really corny but it's worth a try_, he thought.

"Why do you choose to fight me?" Sora asked curiously.

"Because you're standing in my way!" Heartless Akyra sneered, taking another swing at him.

"Are you sure? Or is it just because Maleficent ordered you to?" Sora replied, particularly proud of his answer. Heartless Akyra stopped abruptly and stared at the floor, as if she were deep in thought. After a few moments of awkward silence, she picked up her head and scowled at Sora.

"Don't play mind games with me, boy! Grow up!" she shouted.

"You know, Akyra would have never said that. So, it's only logical that you're not the Akyra you say you are," Sora responded.

"I am Akyra. What's the matter, you can't see well?" she said sarcastically, firing another ice spell at him.

"You could have fooled me," he answered. Heartless Akyra growled with fury and took another merciless swing at him.

"What do you know, you pest? You never knew Akyra. To you, she was just that annoying little sidekick who followed you around all over the place. Why, you couldn't even keep her little promise you pledged to keep. She was worthless to you…"

"You liar!" Sora screeched.

Heartless Akyra merely chuckled, "The truth hurts, doesn't it? See what you've made her become? She is now your shadow in a bright light, the gloom at dusk and the darkness inside your heart…"

"You're wrong!" Sora shrieked, causing Heartless Akyra to jump back. He's had enough of this nonsense. He knew Heartless Akyra was only toying with his mind to make him weaker. But he wasn't going to let this happen. He gave a fierce look at her and slowly approached her.

"You think I don't know who Akyra is? I'll tell you who she is! She's a mysterious, radiant person who always wants to have fun. She's adventurous, brave and I know for sure that she would never join the darkness. I know who Akyra is; Akyra's my best friend. And I know that wherever I go and whatever I face, Akyra will always be there by my side."

Heartless Akyra stared at Sora, stunned by his speech. Sora was astonished to find out that his plan, no matter how corny it may sound, actually worked. If it worked, might as well continue using it, right?

"I know," Sora continued, "that I broke my promise. It happens to everyone, even the best of heroes. But I didn't mean to break my promise and you know it!" he said, pointing an angry finger at her dumbfounded face.

"I would do anything…"he began, "Anything in the world to get Akyra's heart back."

As soon as he concluded his speech, one of the most peculiar things happened. Sora's Keyblade started to shine brightly. Heartless Akyra gazed at his weapon, her mouth dropped open in surprise. She then changed her regard to Sora, who stared at his weapon in the same, confused manner.

_This is not what's supposed to happen, _she thought angrily, remembering her task, _I'm supposed to be finishing him off, not staring at his weapon like a dolt._

She straightened her face into an angry smirk and drew her weapon. But the moment she tried to advance, she didn't move at all. It was as if some sort of barrier kept her planted in her spot. What was happening, you may ask. Well, it seems to be one of the many wonders of our familiar Keyblade. Sora had shown so much loyalty to his now lost friend that his Keyblade took action. He vowed to do anything to get Akyra's heart back, no matter what was to happen. His Keyblade shone brighter and brighter until the light it emitted blinded anyone who glanced at it. Suddenly, another light started glowing from Sora's chest, where is heart resided. A tiny, crystal blue heart slowly exited the glowing light and gradually floated higher as it made its way across the room. Sora's light faded a he clutched the area where the heart left. Across the room, Heartless Akyra was staring at the tiny crystal heart, her face holding an expression of deep horror as she tried to escape. But she still couldn't move and became more fearful as the tiny heart floated closer and closer towards her. Finally, even with Heartless Akyra struggling for freedom, the tiny heart arrived to its destination and leisurely seeped into her. The Keyblade's light slowly died away as everyone's regard turned to the villain across the room. Something strange was happening to her. Darkness seeped out of her and disappeared in a haze of smoke. The greyness that covered her slowly faded as her original colourful self returned; her hair lost its depressed hue as it became once again the darkest shade of pink and her eyes swiftly changed from red to crystal blue in a matter of seconds. The air of sadness and melancholy that hung around her evaporated into the air as her normal radiance and brightness returned. The normal Akyra was back at last! Yet, there was still something very wrong. She shot Sora a last faint smile as she fell to the floor with a clatter, unconscious as she was before…

The four remaining friends did nothing but stare at Akyra's lifeless form for the next fifteen minutes. No one dared to say anything. Not even Donald who is, in case you haven't noticed, quite the chatterbox. This awkward silence was suddenly shattered by the crashing sound of metal hitting the stone floor. Donald, Goofy and Kairi's heads all jerked suddenly the other way, towards the source of the noise. Sora's Keyblade had slid right out of his hands and was now resting upon the cold floor. Acting as if nothing had happened, Sora slowly walked towards Akyra, hardly daring to believe how a plan that was working so successfully could fail so suddenly. He bent down and put his hand on her pale skin. It was frozen, as cold as ice. She wasn't breathing either and no matter how hard anyone tried, you would never succeed in finding a pulse. A lonesome tear swelled up in Sora's sad eyes.

As he wiped it away, he said, "I know that I broke my promise and I know that I deserve to be punished for it but…"

More tears rolled down his cheek.

"Please," he concluded, "don't punish me like this."

With one last glance at her, he picked himself up and walked away. As he passed Donald, Goofy and Kairi, he paused and drew his weapon. He then smashed it across the invisible barrier that held them all captive with such force that it shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Without a word, he continued pacing towards the corridor, the same dull, miserable expression on his face. The three remaining friends had no other choice but to follow him, feeling a little weird leaving a friend behind.

* * *

No sooner had Sora walked through the entrance of the corridor in question had he heard a voice inside his head: _Sora, you lazy bum! You're giving up already?_ Akyra's voice said. He simple ignored it and kept walking. 

_I thought we were best friends!_ The voice said again.

_Stop taunting me!_ Sora thought angrily, _Yes, you are my best friend but there's nothing I can do about what just happened. So there's no reason for you to make me feel even guiltier than I already do! I just lost my best friend so aren't I being tortured enough?_ For a minute, the voice in his head stopped and Sora felt a triumphant feeling.

But then, Akyra's voice said again, _I thought you told me that boys don't cry?_

Sora suddenly stopped in his tracks and thought. He remembered long ago, they were only eight years old, he was gloating to Kairi and Akyra how boys never cry. It was one of his faintest memories but he still remembered it.

_If boys don't cry, then why are you crying just now?_ Sora's head jerked up at the sound of this. He was sure he had heard it, not in his head, but for real. He could have sworn that the voice ringing in his ears actually was Akyra speaking.

_It couldn't be…_ Sora thought, the smile that had just formed on his face turning back into a sad frown.

_Are you sure?_ her voice said softly. This time he was taking no chances; he heard her voice, he just knows it. He quickly whirled around and broke into a run, bumping Donald on the way.

"Sora, what's going on?" Kairi called as Donald quacked furiously. Sora suddenly stopped once again and turned to face Kairi.

"Kairi, didn't you hear it?" he asked vigorously.

"Hear what?" she answered, her expression turning from saddened to confused.

"Akyra! She spoke, didn't you hear it?" Kairi, Donald and Goofy stared blankly at each other, too lost for words. They all shook their heads.

"Anyways, I'm sure I heard it. Come on!" he said as he sprang forward back into the room where they had left her. The three remaining friends broke into a chase after him, still perplexed.

* * *

When he had arrived into the familiar room, Sora skidded to a halt and glanced eagerly at Akyra. There she was, lying exactly where they had left her. Sora's keen smile had turned once again into a sad frown as Donald, Goofy and Kairi came running into the room. 

"Sora, are you sure you're all right?" Donald asked meekly.

"I-I guess I just imagined those voices…" Sora said sadly as he gazed at her unconscious body. Just then, Sora saw Akyra's hand twitch. Surely he must have imagined that gesture. He turned around and followed Donald, Goofy and Kairi out of the room until it happened again; Akyra's other hand twitched. This time he stopped and watched her curiously as he advanced. To his surprise, she twitched again and suddenly started to stir. She then slowly opened her eyes and mumbled in a low voice, "What happened?"

A large smile broke across Sora's saddened face.

"Akyra!" he cried as he eagerly helped her to her feet. The sound of his shriek rang through the stone halls and echoed so loudly that the sound of it made Donald, Goofy and Kairi jump. They glanced at each other in shock and once again turned and ran towards the familiar room.

Meanwhile, Sora had flung his arms around Akyra and held her tightly in a suffocating hug.

"I thought I lost you!" he cried with happiness, "I thought I had lost my best friend. Akyra, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to break my promise."

"Whoa, hold on! Who said you broke your promise?" Akyra asked, an odd expression of happiness and confusion forming on her face.

"I-I promised…that I would always be there for you. That I would always protect you in the face of danger. But I failed-" Akyra had placed a finger on his mouth to stop him from talking.

"Yes, Sora you did fail. But you still came back for me. You didn't break your promise- you kept it all the same." He chuckled slowly and tightened his hug.

"This time…I'll make sure I don't break my promise. I'll never let you go." Akyra said nothing. A strong wave of happiness and relief washed over her as he said this. She never wanted this moment to end. Sadly, it had to end when Donald and Goofy's voices both yelled, "Akyra, you're alive!"

Sora released her and stepped back, leaving room for Donald and Goofy's frantic cheers.

"Akyra, you're back! Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Donald asked hysterically, a twitch of real anger in his voice.

"Who cares now, Donald? She's back!" Goofy screeched.

"What? You actually thought I would leave you guys?" Akyra asked sarcastically.

"Akyra!" Kairi called from behind. At the sound of this, Akyra suddenly stopped. She could hardly believe it. Kairi stood before her, smiling brightly. After journeying through countless worlds and meeting countless people, the have finally found what they were looking for.

"Kairi, you're alive!" she said while pulling on her cheeks and hair.

"Uh, yeah. Akyra what are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"I'm just making sure you're real!" she answered, sharing a secret wink with Sora. "Anyways, I think we have some unfinished business to attend to," Akyra said gleefully.

"You're right, we still need to seal that Keyhole!" Donald remembered.

"Come on guys! Let's go find that Keyhole!" Sora concluded, raising his Keyblade in the air. With that, they marched one by one out of the stone covered room, an extra member added to their party…

* * *

Me: Aw...So gosh darn sweet! Kairi gets insulted, Sora becomes schizophrenic and Akyra is a total Mary Sue!  
Audience: That's it? That is our death and destruction? You disappoint us, KH-Akyra!  
Me: I disappoint YOU?  
-Meanwhile-  
Akyra: SUGAR!  
Sora: PARTY! (dances with Akyra)  
Kairi: CHEESE! (attacks the cheese buffet) 


	38. Akyra's New Friend

-Me: Yes, I know this chappie is late, so please feel free to poke me whenever you want.  
Audience: YAY! (pokes me)  
Akyra: (ish playing) Heeheee!  
Me: Akyra, what's that?  
Akyra: My new toy! It's a Sora action figure, and whenever you press the little button, the Keyblade lights up and he says something! (presses button)  
Sora Action Figure: Kingdom Hearts is light!  
Me: O.o Can I play with it?  
Akyra: No! It's MINE! (hiss)  
Sora Action Figure: Kairi, I'm always be with you. I'll come back for you, I promise.  
Akyra: KAIRI? (burns action figure)  
Me: Hey! I didn't even get to play with it! (sob)-

Disclaimer: (pokes disclaimer) You're still here, aren'tcha? You're gonna still force me to say that I don't own Kingdom Hearts and that I only own Akyra, aren'tcha? You're pretty annoying, arent'cha? (pokes disclaimer)

* * *

"This time, I know where I'm going. I'm positive!" Sora scolded before anyone had the chance to object. 

They were walking around in circles for the past half hour and started to grow tired of walking around the library and jumping on a few lift stops. Meanwhile, Akyra was chattering away to Kairi about how much Wonderland had freaked her out.

"…and there was this talking rabbit who was so paranoid about being late. And there also was this purple cat that kept popping his head off his body and he spoke in riddles too! Trust me, Kairi; it was weird…" she finished. Kairi chuckled gleefully, as if she was enjoying this rather skimpy explanation of the world she's never known. She quickly changed her regard to Sora, who was staring blankly at one of the lift stops.

Donald, who was standing by his side, grumbled annoyingly and said, "Sora! You got us lost again didn't you? I knew we shouldn't have trusted your sense of direction!"

"Now, Donald," Goofy said, "be nice."

"Be nice? BE NICE?" Donald blasted.

"Uh… Maybe we should go back to the Castle Chapel?" Sora suggested, trying to change the subject.

"Alright, I'm giving you one last chance!" Donald warned, pointing a menacing finger in Sora's direction. He ignored this warning, spun around and headed back to the Castle Chapel, Donald's scowling regard persisting the whole journey.

* * *

"Well, we're at the Castle Chapel! I see no improvement!" Donald quacked angrily. 

"M-maybe we missed something…" Sora said, his voice trailing off as he inspected the area.

Suddenly, Goofy's voice rang through the chapel: "Hey, that corridor wasn't there before!" Everyone jerked in Goofy's direction. Sure enough, a new hallway had appeared since the last time they arrived.

"Well, Donald, it looks like you owe me an apology," Sora said. Donald merely frowned in disgust and pursued Goofy through the mysterious corridor.

* * *

After a few minutes of endless exploring, the group found themselves in a very large and circular hall. Everything in this room was a sad shade of violet. A round platform in the middle of the hall was glowing dimly and was the only source of light. 

"I know…this place…" Akyra sighed.

"Did you say something?" Sora asked her. Ignoring him, she slowly proceeded towards the platform, scanning the room suspiciously.

"I know this place," she said louder so everyone can hear her, "This is where Riku brought me when he kidnapped me…"

"And this is where I remember waking up," Kairi added, approaching the dimly lit platform in her turn. Donald and Goofy stared at the two girls, fascinated by their story.

The soft whispers of suspense was suddenly shattered by Sora who suddenly gasped and, slowly pointing to the walls, said, "Alice… Jasmine?"

The rest of the group whirled around and stared fixedly at the wall. Alice and Jasmine were aligned against the wall, along with four other maidens.

"What is this place?" Sora whispered quietly, still looking around.

"Sora! Look!" Akyra yelled, pointing a gloved finger above one of the unknown maiden's head. A massive, brightly coloured Keyhole decorated the wall's rocky surface. Only this Keyhole was different. It was a lot bigger than any other Keyhole Sora had locked and little slits of electric static sometimes flashed around the metal contour. Sora bravely raised his Keyblade and waited for it to do its job. But nothing happened.

"I don't get it! Why isn't it locking?" Sora asked, a twinge of horror in his voice.

"It's no use," said a cold yet familiar voice. Sora shakily turned his head and caught a glimpse of Riku who was standing underneath the Keyhole.

"What? You... You're not Riku…" Sora stammered.

"You cannot lock this world until the Keyhole is completed. The Keyhole cannot be completed so as long as the last princess' heart still sleeps," Riku said in a shadowy voice.

"That's why you wanted Kairi…" Akyra said, her eyes going wide at this information.

Sora switched his glance from Akyra to Riku once again and muttered, "Kairi…Kairi's a princess?"

"Yes, a Princess of Heart…" Riku corrected, "And without her power the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened!" Sora shot an awkward glance at Akyra and then at Kairi, apparently not fully understanding what Riku meant.

"Kairi has awakened. She's right here, right before your eyes," Sora answered.

"The mere reason why the princess lives and breathes is because we revived her with a substitute heart."

"Then how am I here?" Akyra asked, determined to make this Riku fall.

"You ask the silliest questions. The Key bearer has kindly volunteered to share his heart with you, just so you can live again. But it is now time for your own heart to return to you, Staff wielder. And the princess' heart will finally return to its rightful owner and awaken the true power that lies within!"

"Whoever you are," Sora said bravely, "let Riku go! Give him back his heart!"

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart," he answered coolly. Just then, Sora felt a huge twinge of pain in his heart. He fell to his knees with one hand clutching his heart.

"Sora!" Donald yelled distraughtly.

"Don't you see it yet?" Riku said, his voice becoming more high-pitched, "The Princess's true heart is responding! It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Kairi's inside me?" Sora asked, staring dumbfounded at the villain.

"I know all there is to know…" Riku said more softly this time.

"Tell me…" Sora stuttered, "Who are you?"

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness!"

Riku whipped out his dark Keyblade and swiftly started to approach Sora. With a shout of anger, Donald darted towards Ansem but was sent flying off the platform, collecting Goofy on his flight and crashing into the other side of the wall. When he tried to get back on the platform, Donald was angrily surprised to find out that yet another barrier was preventing him to do anything. Kairi watched this in horror and scurried to hide behind Akyra, the only fighter who was still standing. With no time to lose, she pointed her Staffblade at Ansem.

"Thund-" was all she could say since Ansem had blown she and Kairi off their feet. They landed behind the invisible barrier where Donald and Goofy watched the scenery in horror. Now, only Ansem and Sora, who was still clutching his heart, were left on the platform. He lifted his Dark Keyblade over his head and gave Sora a menacing smile.

"So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Riku was about to bring his weapon down on Sora until suddenly…

"Sora!" Kairi cried.

The mere sound of her voice awakened something within Sora, gave him power. In a split second, he raised his Keyblade as well and the sound of metal hitting metal told the horrified audience in the sidelines that Sora had just deflected Riku's attack.

"Forget it!" Sora screeched, picking himself up and pushing Riku away, "There is no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"

* * *

Kairi whimpered and whirled around, shielding her eyes and ears from the terrifying battle. Goofy patted her on the back and comforted her. Who could blame her? Imagine watching your two best friends engaged in a raging battle between dark and light and the only thing you can do is watch. What's worse is that Riku/Ansem was a formidable opponent; probably one of the worst Sora has ever faced. He swung his Dark Keyblade frantically and hardly ever gave Sora a chance to fight. Finally, Sora hit Riku with a weak fire spell but at least it gave him a chance to take a few swings at him. The battle raged on for countless minutes and the spectators started to grow restless. Why, even Donald refused to watch the battle and went to take a seat beside Kairi. Soon, only Akyra was brave enough to watch. Riku took quite a few hits at Sora and retreated for his own safety. But before he could do so, Sora took two last slashes at him and Riku kneeled to the floor, defeated. He gave Sora one last menacing look before vanishing in a plume of black darkness. 

"That's what I'm talking about!" Akyra applauded, running onto the platform once the barrier had dissolved before them. Donald, Goofy and Kairi, all who sported happy looks on their faces, soon joined her.

"I knew you could do it!" Goofy chuckled.

"Thanks, guys, but this is no time to celebrate! We have to lock this Keyhole!"

"How will we do that? The Keyhole's not finished yet!" Akyra yelled.

"Maybe we've got to give Kairi back her rightful heart," Goofy suggested. Sora muttered something inconspicuous and paced the floor, deep in thought until slowing down to a halt in front of Riku's dark Keyblade.

"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts... I wonder," he whispered as he picked up the dark Keyblade.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Akyra said really quickly with a twinge of panic in her voice.

"Sora! Hold on!" Goofy said as well.

"No, wait!" Donald cried almost instantly. Sora turned to face his friends and with one last smile, he thrust the Keyblade into his heart.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieked, attempting to run towards her friend but was suddenly stopped by Goofy, who was holding her back. Sora glowed with a bright light so blinding that the finest gem couldn't emit such light. The dark Keyblade had dissolved into seven coloured orbs. Six of them floated towards the six maidens against the wall and returned to their rightful owners. The last orb flew towards Kairi and entered her body as well. Still stunned by the moment, Kairi ran towards Sora as fast as she can. But she was too late, and Sora had disappeared into thousands of small, bright orbs. Kairi watched in disarray as the tiny orbs slowly floated to the ceiling and vanished as soon as they touched the stone.

"Sora! Come back, Sora!" Donald yelled, jumping frantically as he tried to catch the rest of the floating orbs.

"What's... What's happening to me? Falling...falling...into darkness."

"Sora, are you really- No. It can't be! I won't let him go!" Kairi screeched, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Behind them, a dark portal had appeared and a tall man with orange eyes and long silver hair, just like Riku's, emerged from the darkness; it was Ansem in his true form.

"So, you have awakened at last, Princess," he said in an insolent tone of voice, "The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over." He was about to approach them, but Donald, Akyra and Goofy readied their weapons and pointed them at him menacingly.

"Don't make another move!" Donald threatened.

"Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?" Goofy asked weakly.

"Maybe not," Akyra answered, "But we can still try!" Ansem watched them cynically and stepped forward. Though he didn't make a move, as if something was stopping him from advancing.

"Impossible!" Ansem roared. An image of Riku stood before Ansem, stopping him from moving any more.

"No. You won't use me for this!" Riku cried.

"Riku!" Kairi yelled.

"You've got to run! The Heartless are coming!" he alerted them as an army of shadow Heartless came crawling towards them. Kairi looked at her friend in despair, nodded and followed the rest of them as they ran for their lives.

"What about the Keyhole?" Goofy panted.

"Let's just get out of here!" Donald bellowed as they ran.

Akyra took one last look at the hall before entering the corridor. Ansem and Riku had vanished along with all the other Heartless. She stopped running and slowed to a halt since there was no danger to run away from. All that was left in the room besides herself was a lonesome Shadow Heartless.

"Heartless!" she yelled, raising her weapon high. But the Heartless did something mighty peculiar that made her lower her weapon almost instantly. Instead of taking a chance and attacking her like a normal Heartless would do, this one backed up a few steps and cowered in fear.

"Hey there, little buddy," she murmured, bending down to see it better, "You're not a normal Heartless now are you?" The Shadow Heartless shivered a little and cautiously approached her.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt someone who won't hurt me…" she said, sticking her hand out to show she was harmless. Its bright yellow eyes stared at her for a moment before crawling even closer.

"Why are you like this?" she asked, "Did you change sides?" The idea of that happening sounded silly to her as she patted it on the head. She had never touched a Heartless before and its black, rubbery texture surprised her a bit. Suddenly, another idea occurred to her.

"Were you once alive but then had your heart stolen by Heartless?" she asked. Surprisingly, the Heartless nodded and shook its head at the same time.

Akyra looked at it with a confused expression on her face and replied, "So what you're trying to say is that you were once alive but you are a Heartless now for other reasons and not because the Heartless stole your heart?" It nodded frantically and twitched its antennae a little.

"I can't believe I'm talking to a Heartless," she said in her little, high-pitched sing-song voice.

"Concerning the way you're acting, aren't you afraid that the other Heartless will reject you? Or worse, hurt you?" she asked. The Heartless didn't move.

"I can't let that happen to you… Hey, I have an idea! Why don't you come with me? Of course, Donald wouldn't approve but I'll watch over you. Okay?" she suggested. It twitched one of its antennae and nodded in approval.

"Great!" she said happily as she picked herself up, "Follow me." With that, she strode off towards the corridor, her new little friend crawling and bouncing by her side…

* * *

-Me: (sniff) We are gathered here today to grieve the passing of the Sora action figure. The Sora action figure had a very short life. It started at a toy making factory and ended in Akyra's arms. It brought many hours of joy to us and even though its little phrases sometimes offended, we still loved it with all our hearts. It will be sorrowly missed but it will always live on in our memories forever. Unless we go to Castle Oblivion and forget everything, of course...  
Akyra: (sniffle) (sob)  
Audience: Give me a break...  
Sora: Hey, I'm here! Did I miss anything?  
Audience: Look, its the real Sora!  
Akyra: HE'S MINE!  
Me: MINE!  
Me/Akyra: (tackle Sora)  
Sora: Audience! HELP!  
Audience: No way! This is the most action we get all day! (grabs popcorn)- 


	39. The Unbreakable Promise

Me: Hey everybody! I'm back from my two weeks of vacation with a new chappie! Hope ya like it! (gasp)  
(angelic choir sings dramatic tune)  
(entire world shredded to pieces)  
(remainders of trees and houses scattered on floor)  
(fire everywhere)  
Me: What...happened? (spots Akyra and Audience)  
Audience: (looks at Akyra)  
Akyra: (gulp) I can explain...

Disclaimer: Not you again!(sigh) I don't own Kingdom Hearts and Akyra ish mine.

* * *

"I can't leave them behind!" Kairi yelped, trying to pry herself free from Goofy's grip. 

"I'm sorry, miss Kairi, but I'm afraid I can't let you go back. It's too dangerous," Goofy answered, tugging her backwards.

"Akyra, hurry up!" Donald yelled at Akyra, who was at least fifteen feet away.

"Yeah, hold on, I'm coming…" she responded blankly.

"A Heartless is behind you!" Goofy warned.

"I'll take care of it!" Donald said bravely as he ran towards the little Heartless who followed Akyra.

"No wait-" she yelled.

"Confounded Heartless!" Donald interrupted, lifting his staff over his head, "Get lost, will ya?" With all the strength he had, he slashed the Heartless with his staff. But, the sound of clashing metal told Goofy and Kairi that someone had deflected his attack. Akyra stood between Donald and the Heartless, her Staffblade aligned at right angles with Donald's staff.

"I can't let you do that," she said firmly.

"Have you lost your mind? It's a Heartless!" Donald argued.

"It's not a normal Heartless! It didn't attack me. In fact, it even talked to me!"

"Sure it did, Akyra. Sure it did…" Donald said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Now MOVE ASIDE!"

"NO! I won't let you get to it!" Akyra yelled in fury.

"What if it's some Heartless mercenary coming to report our whereabouts to Ansem? Have you ever thought of that?"

"DON'T START WITH ME, YOU CRAZY DUCK!"

"CRAZY DUCK! You're the one who's crazy! You're the one who's friends with a Heartless! You're protecting our enemies!"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"WHAT? I am not…"

Amidst the arguing between the two magicians, nobody noticed Kairi slowly approaching the Heartless. Donald was right, it was a Heartless. But this one seemed different than the others. There was something about it that made Kairi wonder…

"Sora? Is that you?" she asked. Without hesitation, the Heartless nodded its head. Kairi's eyes widened and a first real smile broke across her face as she picked him up.

"Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you…" she whispered softly to it. She picked herself up to tell everyone the news until suddenly, countless Heartless appeared, surrounding the group. Kairi let out a shriek and held on tightly to the Heartless in her arms.

"This time, I'll protect you…"

"We'll finish this later," Akyra said angrily, poking Donald with her staff, "To battle!"

The three fighters charged for the Heartless and destroyed as many as they could. Still, the Heartless persisted and an even larger number of them had appeared after they were finished with the first wave.

"We need help!" Donald panicked.

"Hey, who's watching Kairi?" Goofy asked.

"What?" Akyra screeched in horror, "Kairi!"

In the other corner, huge waves of Heartless were attacking Kairi, who was kneeling over Akyra's friendly shadow. But she didn't care. She would protect Sora if it was the last thing she did. Suddenly, a flash of light burst into the room, eliminating every single Heartless in sight. Once the light had dimmed, the three fighters were shocked by what they saw. Sora was standing in the far corner with Kairi in his arms.

"Kairi…Thank you…" Sora said gently.

"Sora…" was all Kairi could answer, gazing at her friend with a bright smile on her face.

"Sora you're back!" Donald, Goofy and Akyra cried in unison as they ran towards him as fast as they could.

"Guys, guys, slow down!" Sora yelled as he finally let go of Kairi. The three friends were running so fast that they had crashed right into him and fell to the floor, all in less than three seconds.

"What was that for?" Sora groaned as he rubbed his head.

"We missed you!" Akyra answered cheerfully. Kairi giggled but suddenly gasped when she caught the sight of countless tiny dark portals. Several Heartless emerged from these little portals and quickly made their way towards the happy group.

"Not again!" Donald grumbled, whipping out his staff.

"Go now!" boomed a familiar voice. Beast had caught up with them and was now slicing every Heartless within reach.

"Come with us!" Sora yelled over the roar of the battle.

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle. Now go, the Heartless are coming!"

Sora nodded his head and said, "Alright. Let's get out of here!" He quickly whirled around and streaked towards the exit, the rest of the group following closely by his side.

* * *

"Get in before they come!" Donald screeched, keeping a close eye on the Heartless who were still pursuing them. When they had all embarked on the Gummi ship, Donald quickly jerked the controls and in no time at all, the ship was sent rocketing into the sky at full speed, the Heartless that had been chasing them nothing more but a speck in the distance. 

"Wow…" Akyra said slowly as she peered out her window to catch one last glimpse of Hollow Bastion, "now THAT is what I call a world!"

"After all that happened to us, you still found it fun?" Donald asked angrily.

"Well, losing our weapons wasn't fun, neither was being kidnapped, neither was finding out that Riku left for the dark side, neither was being possessed by darkness, neither was losing Sora, neither was hysterically running away from the Heartless..."

"So, in other words, nothing was fun?" Donald asked sarcastically.

"Well… going to a new world was fun! And so was my little Heartless friend. By the way, you still didn't apologize Donald!"

"Apologize for what?"

"If I hadn't stopped you, you would have slashed my little Heartless friend to ribbons when it really turned out to be Sora," Akyra said with a little smile. Donald glared at her and kept quiet for the rest of the trip. When he didn't answer her, Akyra laughed triumphantly and bounced back in her seat. No sooner had they started talking to each other they arrived in Traverse Town.

* * *

Leon, Yuffie and Aerith were patiently waiting their arrival in the small house. 

"Tell me what happened," Leon grunted. Sora spoke and told him everything that happened from when he lost the Keyblade to when he was unable to seal the Keyhole, without forgetting any detail.

"So the darkness is flowing out of that Keyhole…" Leon sighed.

"No wonder there are more and more Heartless everywhere," Aerith started, "The only way to stop them is-"

"Seal the Keyhole, right?" Sora interrupted.

"Maybe…" Leon replied, crossing his arms, "But no one knows what will happen once it's sealed."

"We can't just stay here! We have to do something!" Sora panicked.

"We have a friend back there," Akyra said.

"That's right. You have one more friend to worry about. Riku's Keyblade must have been born of the captive princesses' hearts; just like that Keyhole you saw," Leon said as he strode across the room and finally coming to a halt in front of Kairi, "Of course, without Kairi's heart, it remained incomplete. Once that Keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed. Don't worry, Sora. If anyone can save your friend, you can." Sora gave a small smile and exited the small house, slowly making his way towards Cid's residence.

When Cid's waving hand was in view, Akyra, Donald and Goofy ran to greet him. Sora merely walked past them and got straight to the point. 

"Cid, I need to get back to Hollow Bastion," he said.

"I don't think I can let you do that, kid. The Heartless there are multiplying by the minute. They'd eat your ship up," he replied.

"Then what will we do?" Sora asked.

"Simple. Go around 'em instead of through. Install a new navigation Gummi and take a new route."

"A new Gummi?" Sora asked brightly, as if all hope was restored, "From where?"

"The secret waterway. When I came here 9 years ago, I stored it there in case I ever needed it. Never thought a kid would be the one to use it!" Cid answered.

* * *

"Ew…gross…" Akyra complained as she made her way through the swampy green waters of the secret waterway. 

"And you're complaining?" Donald asked sarcastically from the other side.

"What are you talking about-" she said but was interrupted by the sight of Donald. Akyra was only knee-deep in swamp but since Donald was much shorter than her, he was in almost to his neck.

"My sympathies…" she whispered. Donald merely grumbled in disgust and tried to swim across the disgusting, murky water. On the other side of the waterway, Sora and Goofy were examining a large mural. It was shaped like the sun. Sora murmured something illegible under his breath and gently touched the mural. A small pool of light shimmered for a few seconds and a Gummi piece dropped right out of the mural. Sora picked it up and examined it.

"How convenient," he said, "Let's go!"

"Finally!" Donald moaned as he swam to shore, half of his beak under water. Poor Donald. It must have been really nauseating for him.

* * *

Once they exited the waterway, the group found Kairi standing right in front of it. Donald, Goofy and Akyra volunteered to go spiff up the Gummi ship while Sora spoke with Kairi privately. 

"A light at the end of the tunnel..." she said slowly, looking away from Sora.

"Oh, your grandma's story, right?" Sora asked.

"That's right," Kairi replied, "We were together."

"You know what's funny?" Sora chuckled, "I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along. Finally, we're together, Kairi. Akyra's here and safe too but now… Now, it's time to get Riku back."

"Do you think it will ever be the same between us? Riku's lost his…" Kairi answered, looking as though she was on the edge of tears.

"When I turned into a Heartless, you saved me, remember?" Sora asked gently. Kairi looked up at him, a look of confusion spreading across her face.

"I was lost in the darkness," he continued, "I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things like my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard your voice…your voice… You brought me back."

"I didn't want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn't." Sora stared at Kairi for a few seconds, as if he was beginning to understand what was going on.

"That's it! Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that's what saved me. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess it's more than just a fairy tale."

"Well… Let's go!" Kairi said, raising a fist in the air.

"You can't go!" Sora said firmly.

"Well than, why not?" Kairi asked sadly.

"Because it's way too dangerous!" Sora yelled, waving his arms in the air.

"Come on, Sora. We've made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone!" Kairi pleaded.

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?"

"I can't help?" she asked sarcastically.

"You'd kind of be in my way…" Sora sighed as he smiled.

"Okay…you win…" Kairi giggled. She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a tiny star-shaped charm she always used to carry around when they were still on the Destiny Islands.

"Take this. It's my lucky charm. But be sure to bring it back to me!" she laughed.

"Don't you worry. I will…" Sora assured her.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Kairi smiled one last time and said, "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

Little did the two friends know that a pair of crystal blue eyes were watching them from afar. Akyra was hiding behind a building and watching the two friends' conversation. Since she had only just arrived, she only caught a glimpse of Kairi handing Sora her charm and then on. Thinking she had seen enough, she decided to return to the Gummi ship. Finally, she shot one last glance at them and smiled painfully as she picked herself up. She slowly walked away, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

* * *

Me: So let me get this straight. There was a huge lightning storm and wherever the lightning hit, aliens came out of the ground? And then the aliens started destroying earth. But then, they all died... just like that?  
Akyra: Yep, that's about it.  
Me: (sigh) Akyra, you're not the only one who saw War of the Worlds, you know...  
Akyra: So you don't believe me?  
Me: No! (sobs)  
Akyra: Aw...don't cry. Here, we got you a birthday present! (hands me a present)  
Me: (gasp) You rememberd! (rips open present) (takes out dandelion)You gave me a piece of weed?  
Audience: It's the last living plant on earth.  
Me: Aw... Thankies! (huggles Akyra and Audience) 


	40. The Darkest Keyhole

Akyra: (eats potato chips)  
Audience: (snore)  
Me: Hmm... I don't know why, but my posse seems so lonely.  
Akyra: (crunches) So?  
Me: I'm going to do something about it! With my totally awesome authoress powers (snaps fingers) I present, the newest member of my posse... Mushu!  
Mushu: I LIVE!  
Audience: O.o Yep. As if this posse couldn't get worse. An insane authoress, an equally insane ficcy character, a person who hates everything and a snake... How excellent...  
Mushu: Excuse me, sister? Who you calling a snake? I'm a dragon!  
Audience: You look like a snake to me.  
Mushu: Oh, I'll show you! (blows smoke) Did you see that? Now, I am HOT!  
Audience: (sigh)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I don't own Mushu either. But I do own Akyra. That's the 40th time I tell you! Evil lawyers...

* * *

Sora proceeded to the First District alone and handed the newfound Gummi to Cid. 

"You found it? All right, I'll go fix your ship," he said, fiddling the tiny Gummi in his hands.

"Uh, thanks," Sora said nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"It should take a few hours to install. Why don't you go stay with your friends for the time being?" Cid suggested. Sora nodded and headed towards the Second District, leaving Cid to his work.

Sora found all his friends moping around the hotel's hallways, some of them sleeping while others hopping around in excitement. He walked around aimlessly for a few seconds before finally sitting on a small platform with hardly enough room for someone to sit on. He dug into his pocket and reached out the charm Kairi had given him earlier. It glimmered slightly as the hotel's lights reflected off of it. Sora smiled faintly and twirled it around his thumb. He was too caught up in the moment to notice the sound of Akyra's bouncing footsteps approaching him. She came to a halt in front of him and stared at his blank face as he concentrated on the object in his hands.

"Earth to Sora," she said impatiently, waving one hand in front of his face.

_What's wrong with him?_ She thought for a second before glimpsing a shiny star charm in his hands. She grinned evilly and snatched the charm from under his nose, snapping him out of his daydreaming state.

"Akyra, give that back!" he yelled almost at once, tumbling off the little platform.

"Ooh, would you look at this? It's purdy!" she taunted as she climbed on top of the platform where Sora sat moments ago. There was hardly enough place for one person to stand so Sora had to jump as high as he could to reach Akyra's height.

"Please give it back?" he said playfully, making another attempt to reach her.

"Who's it from?" she asked, blocking his effort to reach it.

"Come on, Akyra I'm serious," he replied.

"So am I. Who's it from?" she asked again, gazing at the charm. Suddenly, she gasped and turned to face Sora.

"This looks just like the charm Kairi used to carry all over the place when we were back home. It was her lucky charm!"

"Yeah…so?" Sora panted, still trying to reach for it.

"Then what are you doing with it?" Akyra asked loudly.

Sora suddenly stopped jumping and put his right hand behind his head, his face glowing slightly pink. Akyra's eyes went wide and a huge, sly smile spread across her face as she said, "You have a crush on Kairi, don't you Sora?"

Sora remained speechless and attempted one last jump.

"Who am I to stand in the way?" Akyra said dramatically, yet sarcastically, "Here, take your charm." She leapt off the platform and dropped the charm in Sora's hands.

"Ooh, wait until I tell everybody! They won't believe it!" she yelled merrily as she skipped down the hallway. Sora smiled sarcastically and, feeling that he needed to get playful revenge from her, said,

"Why would you tell everybody? Is it because you're jealous?" Akyra suddenly stopped skipping, her facial expression changing from happy and cheery to confused and scared.

"No!" she said firmly, turning to face Sora and making her most convincing face. Sora smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Just wanted to know…" With that, he strode off towards the exit and disappeared behind the closing door. Akyra's face fell as she slowly sulked towards her room. Once she reached her destination, she flopped herself on the bed and turned over to face the ceiling.

"How can I be so stupid? The one chance I get to tell him and I…blow it!" She groaned angrily and buried her face in her hands.

"Is something wrong, Akyra?" Jiminy asked as he propped his journal on a nearby desk and started writing in it.

"No…" she sighed, "Nothing's wrong…" She turned over so she wasn't facing Jiminy and stared at the door. _How can I tell you, Sora? _She thought as she slowly shut her eyes. _Maybe it just wasn't meant to be…_ No sooner had she turned over to face the ceiling, she fell asleep.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Akyra!" yelled a cheery voice. 

"Huh?" she managed to choke out as she rubbed her eyes.

"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Sora yelled again.

"Who's Sleeping Beauty?" Akyra groaned.

"I don't know. It just sounded appropriate," he answered, shrugging his shoulders, "Now get ready! Cid finished installing that Gummi." With that, he darted out of the room and skipped down the hall.

"What a goof…" she chuckled.

Akyra strode through the tall wooden doors of the First District and scurried to join the group. Cid was seemingly giving them an extra long speech about how dangerous Hollow Bastion is. 

"All set! You can get going anytime. Kid, I got to say, I wish you didn't have to face all this danger," Cid concluded as he watched the group climb into the Gummi Ship and blast off for Hollow Bastion.

* * *

"Gwarsh…It looks even more depressing than when we first landed…" Goofy said sadly, unbuckling his safety belt. They had just gone through a special portal that twisted and turned so quickly that they had to buckle their safety belts to survive. 

"Hey, doesn't that look like Beast down there?" Donald asked as he carefully pushed a few buttons. Sora and Akyra scrambled out of their seats and peered out of the windshield. The surroundings were rather familiar; it was that strange place were stones hung in midair, air bubbles that transport you underwater and the very odd waterfalls that rise instead of falling.

"Talk about gravitational pull…" Akyra remarked.

"It is Beast! Quick, let's go see him!" Sora said, slightly agitated. They waited until the Gummi Ship came to a complete stop before hopping off and rejoining Beast.

"Beast!" Sora cried, "Where's Belle?"

"Still in the castle," he grunted.

"Against her will?"

"No, I think she stayed for a reason. The other princesses are in there as well."

"I wonder why?" said Donald, tapping his foot.

"Let's go ask them!" Goofy suggested.

"I'll go with you. You may need my strength," Beast growled. Sora took one last look at his friends, nodded his head in agreement and proceeded up towards the haunted castle.

* * *

They quickly made their way through the castle, fighting off any Heartless who dared to come in their way. Finally, after a small number of minutes of silence, the group found themselves in the familiar library where they had chased Riku hours ago. The tall bookshelves were still filled with a countless number of books and the gold winding staircases were glimmering as they reflected the sunlight, as if nothing had touched them. 

"I hate this place…" Akyra moaned, remembering how this was the place where she had been kidnapped.

"Belle!" Beast cried with joy. The remaining friends whirled around and spotted young, brown-haired woman dressed in a long, elegant ball gown. She reached out her arms and hugged the Beast when he came close enough.

"So that's Belle!" Jiminy said, scribbling more things in his journal.

"Keyblade master?" Belle asked as she and Beast approached them, hand in hand.

"That's me," Sora answered with a slight smile.

"You've come to seal the Keyhole, right?" Belle started, "Please, be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer."

"We'll take care of it," Sora said in his usual, heroic voice.

"The rest of the princesses are in the Castle Chapel. Good luck to you!"

* * *

Following Belle's information, the group proceeded to the Castle Chapel. Once they had arrived, they were unusually surprised to find five more princesses. Sora approached them and two of the princesses immediately walked towards him. One had blonde hair tied in a bun with a classy blue ball gown and the other had long, flowing blonde hair with a long, pink stylish dress fit for a queen. 

"We've been waiting for you, Keyblade Master," the one with the blue gown said, "I am Cinderella and this is Aurora."

"Where's Ansem?" Sora demanded.

"Gone," Cinderella simply said with a low, earthy tone.

"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it. It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared," Aurora answered.

"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped," Cinderella said again, "We're working together to hold it back."

"I cannot forget the look on his face," Aurora said, shaking her head in disbelief, "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling."

"Sora!" Akyra shushed, "Isn't that Alice? And Jasmine?"

"Hey you're right! Let's go talk to them," Sora answered as he swiftly walked towards the other three princesses.

Jasmine, Alice and another woman with skin as white as snow and a bright yellow dress were talking to each other but immediately stopped as soon as they spotted Sora.

"Sora, please hurry! Darkness is pouring from the Keyhole," Jasmine said with a nervous look on her face.

"It's all we can do to hold back the darkness," Alice continued.

"I don't know how long we can even manage that," the last woman said, staring in Alice's direction.

"All right. I'm on my way," Sora assured them as he and the group ran towards the Keyhole.

"We're counting on you Keyblade Master!" the last princess yelled as Sora ran further and further away, "In the meantime, we'll do what we can, too."

* * *

The huge multi-coloured Keyhole they had seen moments before seemed to become more evil and vile by the second. A large amount of darkness flowed out of its opening, not to mention through the cracks in the wall as well. 

"You know, this Keyhole sure looks different," Akyra said as she poked the Keyhole with a gloved finger. Suddenly a high-pitched screech was heard as Akyra was abruptly sucked into the Keyhole, leaving nothing more than dust particles floating around the air. Donald let out a quack of horror and cowered behind Sora.

"Hang on, Akyra, I'll save ya!" Goofy yelled at the top of his lungs as he touched the Keyhole as well. He too was sucked into the Keyhole and vanished a few seconds later.

"Quick! Jump in!" Sora shrieked as he picked up a terrified Donald and flung him into the Keyhole.

Once Donald had disappeared, Sora readied his weapon, jumped into the Keyhole and with a final flash of light, he vanished.

* * *

Mushu: I am the powerful! The special! The awesome Mushu!  
Me: We know, Mushu. Stop telling us.  
Mushu: You're just jealous of my dragon abilities.  
Audience: We have a memo for the crazy authoress.  
Me: That's me! (opens memo)  
Memo: "Dear insane and recently insaner posse, The Sora/Kairi pairing fans have reason to believe that you have disregarded an earlier complaint. The pairing fans will be to your place of residence shortly to blast you out of existence. Have a nice day!"  
Me: O.o 


	41. The Final Destination

Me: Warning; Pitifully short chapter up ahead. I would tell you more about it, but right now we're a little tied up. (puts on war helmet)  
Akyra: (in war suit) Major! I checked the canons. They're all loaded to capacity and Mushu is lighting them at this very moment.  
Me: Thank you, Lieutenant Akyra. And the Audience are all armed and in their battle stance.  
Audience: I've been waiting my whole life for this moment. (sniff)  
Me: Alright, everybody. When the doorbell rings, nobody answer. It's the Sora/Kairi pairing fans. They may use force to get in so-  
Doorbell: Ring!  
Me: I'll get it! (rushes to the door)  
Everyone: NO!  
Sora/Kairi pairing fans: Hi! (evil grin)  
Me: O.o AAAH!

Disclaimer: (pulls out wallet) Here, six dollars! Not enough to own Kingdom Hearts but enough to own Akyra!

* * *

The group found themselves in a slightly smaller, darker circular room. It was so dark they could hardly see and the dimness of the lights didn't help much. Practically the only source of light was coming from the far end of the wall. It glowed brightly amidst the darkness and it had the exact shape of a… 

"Keyhole!" Goofy cheered when he spotted the large keyhole.

"That's convenient!" Sora said gleefully as he bolted towards the Keyhole.

"Sora, hold on!" Donald screeched.

"What's the matter now, Donald?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"What could be so dangerous ab-"

The blood seemed to have rushed right out of his face and his bright smile fell. His eyes grew wide, as if in shock.

"Are you okay?" Akyra asked.

A booming growl and the sound of weight pounding the floor answered her question. The three friends whirled around and faced the 'thing'. It was a huge, beast-like creature with sharp claws and threatening horns. A dark shade of purple coloured its skin and the Heartless emblem was stamped on its chest.

"Aw, look how adorable it is! Have you ever seen anything so positively cute?" Akyra asked.

Donald shot a confused glance at her and said, "Is your head screwed on tight enough?"

"Quit babbling, it's coming!" Sora shrieked as he hid in the nearest corner.

"Well, that's just nice! Go hide in the corner! Make the others fight!" Donald raged. Akyra rolled her eyes and grabbed Donald's flapping bill, snapped it shut and glared at him.

"Stop complaining and FIGHT!" she roared as she tossed Donald towards the massive creature, sending him flying for the Heartless' middle horn. He let out a high-pitch scream and slashed the monster's horn when he came close enough. With that, he landed safely on the floor, his eyes wide with terror.

"Donald, you're a genius! You found his weak spot!" Goofy cheered as he joined the other two teenagers in the battle. Donald shakily changed his regard to the creature, which yelped in pain every time someone managed to hit its middle horn. With a triumphant smile, he put himself in his most heroic battle stance and helped the others with the Heartless.

* * *

Once the monster's middle horn chipped into a thousand pieces, it kneeled down and slowly fell to the floor, disappearing in a puff of dark smoke and leaving the Keyhole just as it was before, shining brilliantly amidst the darkness. 

"Let's go seal that big Keyhole!" Goofy said with approval.

"Sora, you did it," said a low, familiar voice. Leon, Yuffie and Aerith were all standing right next to Sora, as if they had magically appeared out of nowhere.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked, puzzled by their sudden appearance.

"We came in Cid's ship," said Yuffie.

"This is our childhood home. We wanted to see it again," Aerith cut in.

"It's in worse shape than I feared. It used to be so peaceful…" Leon sighed.

"Don't worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island," Aerith said, poking Sora.

"Really?" Sora asked, a trace of hope in his voice.

"But it also means goodbye…" Yuffie said sadly.

"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again," Aerith said.

"Everyone will go back where they came from," Yuffie concluded.

"Then I'll visit you guys with the Gummi ship," Sora suggested.

"It's not that simple," said Leon.

"Before this, you didn't know about any of the other worlds, right?" Yuffie asked.

"Because every world was isolated. Impassable walls divided them," Aerith continued.

"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will those walls," Yuffie said.

"Which means Gummi ships will be useless," Leon added. Sora's shoulders drooped at this information.

"So you're saying we'll never…?" he asked.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," Leon said with a smile.

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," said Aerith.

"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to," Yuffie added.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked with attitude.

"Hurry, Sora! Come and close the Keyhole!" Goofy shouted from a distance.

"Sora, good luck," Leon finished as he watched Sora sprint towards the group, who were standing next to the Keyhole. He raised his Keyblade, like he always has, and pointed it to the Keyhole. Once again, a beam of light shot out of the Keyblade and thus, the world was locked.

* * *

Later, Sora and the group had made their way back to the Castle Chapel where they reunited with the princesses again. Sora was glad to know that they were ecstatic to see him. 

"Thank you, Sora. I think the darkness has already begun to weaken," Alice said proudly.

"But I can feel a powerful darkness growing far away," Jasmine interrupted.

"It's the heart of darkness," said Aurora, "It must be where Ansem went."

"Then I'll take the Gummi ship and I'll deal with both Ansem and the Heartless," Sora said firmly.

"A worthy answer, Keyblade master," Cinderella said with a smile.

"Sora, your courage can bring back our worlds," the last princess said.

"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state," Aurora concluded.

"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora asked.

"Most certainly. And you should be too," Cinderella answered.

"I can't go home until I find Riku and the king…" Sora added.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Akyra said.

"Yeah, let's go get Ansem!" Goofy yelled, raising a fist in the air.

"Okay guys, let's go!" Sora ordered with a victorious smile on his face.

* * *

Nobody spoke during the short drive from Hollow Bastion to the final destination. They were either too anxious or scared to believe that this was their toughest battle yet, or they were sadly mourning the near end of their journey. The sound of Donald's voice was what broke the long silence. 

"I guess that's it…" he said, pointing a stubby little finger at the windshield. It resembled a small, black ball of darkness surrounded by three slanted, dark-coloured rings. The four of them swallowed really hard as Donald slowly landed the ship.

It was a terrible sight. Their final destination, the End of the World, looked like a barren wasteland. It was nothing but a depressing, endless plain of nothing. Sometimes, we could spot a small piece of boulder and rock and further away, a dark orb hung in the air. Other than that, the wasteland was empty.

"Gwarsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked, perplexed by their surroundings.

"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" Sora asked as well.

"You betcha," Donald added in a happy tone of voice.

"But if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's going to happen to this place? And to us?" he asked again, making the question a little harder to answer this time.

"Well, uh…" Donald hesitated, searching for an answer.

"This is a Heartless world so maybe it'll just disappear," Akyra answered.

"Huh?" Sora and Donald asked at the same time with frightened looks on their faces.

"But no worries. Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup, I just know that we will," Goofy reassured them as he attempted to hug all his friends at once.

"Yeah, you're right!" Sora said ecstatically as a smile broke across his face. With a glimmer of hope in their hearts, the three friends returned the hug and began their journey in End of the World. While they strode off towards the floating orb, Sora pulled Kairi's charm out of his pocket and gazed at its shiny surface. With a small smile, he closed his hand on it and thought, "I'll return this. I promise…"

* * *

Me: (sigh) If you have a problem with people who breakup the S/K pairing, why do you come to me? Sheesh, there are more fanfictions out there with way more Sora/other person fluff than mine!  
Sora/Kairi pairing fans: That's true. Sorry we wasted your time. (leaves)  
Me: O.o That's it?  
Akyra: Well... That was lame.  
Me: Oh well, at least we got out of it! YAY!  
(mysterious beeping)  
Me: That does not sound good at all...  
(bomb left by S/K pairing fans explode) (assortment of all vegetables fly out of the bomb)  
Me: Healthy? AAAHH!  
Everyone: (scream) 


	42. Final Rest

--Me: Peeps, please bear with me. My PS2 broke down a while ago and I was never able to make it past Hollow Bastion. Right now, I'm using an extremely useful gamescript and the help of a friend to help me get through Endo of the World. If something doesn't seem clear, I'm really sorry about that.  
Akyra: (sniffle)(sob)  
Mushu: What are you crying about?  
Akyra: The PS2...it's in a commatose! (sob)  
Audience: Oh, get over it...  
Akyra: (gag) (sob)(sob)(cry)(wheeze)  
Me: (sigh) Here, have some cookies.--

Disclaimer: Sheesh, I wish you would break down someday (glares at disclaimer). I don't own Kingdom Hearts... What else is new?

* * *

"This is WAY cool!" Akyra commented as she and the rest of the group made their way across the deserted land. They were walking on some sort of invisible platform that, from afar, looked as if they were walking on air. The more they approached the dark orb, the more their curiosity grew. But before they reached it, they were stopped by what seemed to be another invisible barrier. 

"Why does everything have to be invisible here?" Sora complained as he felt his way around the barrier.

The rest of the group sighed and followed Sora through the invisible maze. It wasn't necessarily that hard to feel themselves around the barrier. The only thing that could have disrupted their trek were immense waves of Heartless that appeared randomly out of nowhere. Finally, after a short walk around the barrier and long endless battles against Heartless, they reached the dark orb and were immediately sucked into it.

* * *

The orb had transported them into a slightly large room. It was quite empty except for a countless number of platforms that twinkled and shone as the light hit them. Peering over the large platform they were standing on, Sora spotted another platform at the bottom of the room. It seemed to glow an eerie shade of blue and was somehow connected with the many platforms, as if they were an endless flight of stairs. 

"Maybe we have to go down there," Goofy suggested.

"Well, there's no other way out so I guess you're right, Goofy," Sora answered as he descended the flight of stairs.

The rest of the group followed suit and one by one, they trailed behind Sora in a straight line. Once they had arrived, though, they found out that the eerie, blue pillar really was a normal pillar with a blue hole shining down the middle, as if it where an entrance to another chamber.

"I wonder what's down there…" Donald whispered.

"Well, why don't you go down there and find out?" Goofy suggested.

No longer than a second later, Goofy had picked up Donald and tossed him down the bright blue hole, making Donald scream at the top of his lungs. Goofy sniggered and jumped in, quickly followed by Akyra and Sora.

* * *

"Why do people keep picking me up and THROWING ME PLACES!" Donald quacked angrily as he dusted himself. 

"Because you're the lightest," Akyra said with a wide, sarcastic grin.

Donald glared at her for a moment and his eyes looked as if fire was about to shoot out them. But, he restrained himself and merely grumbled something indistinct as he took a long look around the room. They stood on another huge platform with more pillars but this time, the room seemed different. Instead of being connected like a flight of stairs, the other pillars were just scattered along the way, each of them glowing blue once again. Other than the platform and the pillars, nothing seemed to occupy the room. Every wall in the room was as black as ink and it made the room seem endless.

"I wonder where that Ansem feller went?" Goofy said.

"Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find them!" Donald answered. Sora chuckled slightly and hopped onto the closest pillar.

"Hey, guys, are you coming?"he asked them when none of the others moved from their spot. He patiently waited for his friends to catch up with him (Goofy had to throw Donald again) and, with a little hesitation, the four of them jumped into the mysterious light in the middle of the pillar.

* * *

"Let me guess where we ended up," Akyra said, her gloved hands on her eyes as if she didn't want to see where they ended up, "We are in another room, on top of another platform and there are a bunch of little pillars that are glowing in front of us." 

"Gwarsh…Can it be?" Goofy asked in awe. Overwhelmed by curiosity, Akyra stood up and peeked through her fingers. Her eyes went wide as she scanned the scenery.

"T-Traverse Town?" she gasped.

"How-How did we…?" Donald said, apparently lost for words.

"No. This can't be happening, we're probably imagining this…" Sora said.

"Well, I sure hope I'm imagining those Heartless over there," Akyra shuddered, pointing to a wave of Shadow Heartless creeping in their direction. Without a moment to lose, the four fighters charged into battle.

The Heartless waves never seemed to end, so the group decided to run for the exit and take on any Heartless that stood in their way. This plan worked rather well and soon enough, they were sent tumbling through the air and landed on the pillar they were standing on moments before.

* * *

Every pillar they went through brought them to a different world they had previously visited. They would enter the world, defeat a different number of Heartless and would be quickly sent back to the dark room with the various pillars again. After defeating all the Heartless and visiting all the worlds again, they found themselves on one last platform with a pillar that glowed a bright shade of red. Without hesitating, they hopped onto the pillar and were immediately transported to a new chamber. 

"If there are any more Heartless in here, I'm going to freak…" Akyra muttered, rubbing the back of her head where a previous Heartless had taken a good slash.

"I know how you feel…" Donald sighed as he patted his beak where another Heartless had attacked him.

"I wonder what this is?" Sora asked as he approached a large object of some sort. The room they had entered was nothing but a hallway with what seemed to be a lonesome machine at the end of it. The machine was the most peculiar sight the four friends had ever seen. It didn't seem to work and many words and phrases were stamped around it.

"The realm of Kingdom Hearts? What's Kingdom Hearts?" Goofy asked. Before any of them had time to answer, the sound of swirling darkness and snapping claws filled the room. Donald and Akyra moaned in disappointment and swiftly joined Sora and Goofy in battle.

* * *

They left the large hallway as soon as all the Heartless were destroyed. To their surprise, the moment they landed on the platform again, the glowing pillar disappeared and revealed another blue void. One by one, the four fighters took their turn and jumped into the void, instantly vanishing. 

The room they had just entered didn't even seem like a room at all. It was a large space outdoors with a tall mountain peeking through the clouds. Since there was no solid ground anywhere near, the four friends had to fly through the air as they did in Neverland.

"Lucky we visited Neverland, eh?" Donald said enthusiastically as he tried to keep his balance by constantly flapping his hands.

A loud and menacing roar interrupted their moment of pleasure. Standing above the mountain was the most enormous Heartless they had ever seen. It's massive, dragon-like wings flapped ferociously as it tried to swipe them with one of its claws. The Heartless emblem was clearly visible across its chest. The monster seemed to be guarding an opening near the mountain.

"I can't take this anymore!" Donald complained as he followed the others and engaged into battle.

The Heartless wasn't as difficult as they thought it would be, though it was immune to magic, causing Donald and Akyra a huge problem. But they still pulled through and in almost no time at all, the Heartless dissolved into thousands of dark pieces, leaving the opening clear.

"Let's go before more Heartless come!" Sora ordered as he and the rest of them bolted towards the opening.

* * *

A clear path stood before the group as they made their way down into the heart of the mountain. Lit platforms and pillars guided their way and practically no Heartless attacked them. After a long walk of silence, the group found themselves in a large wasteland, similar to the one they had visited before. But this time, instead of scattered stone and a dark orb, there were no rocks at all and a large, cylinder shaped opening was within view. The group approached this opening, becoming more and more curious about the place. It was very pretty on the inside, with crystal walls and flooring and a small fountain on the side. 

"Gwarsh, what would a pretty place like this be doing here?" Goofy asked.

"Silly! I think this is a trap," Donald grumbled.

"A trap? Come on! What would Ansem possibly-…hey Sora, are you okay?" Akyra asked. Sora's eyes were wide with shock and his mouth hung slightly open. Akyra waved her hand swiftly in front of his face.

_What's he staring at?_ she thought. She whirled around and positioned herself exactly like Sora and stared straight ahead. A tall, elegant door stood before them, its golden handles gleaming in the light. Where had she seen this door before? It was the door from the islands; the one she saw that fateful night. Instead of the normal leafy opening she was so used to seeing at their Secret Place, for some reason, the very same door appeared there on that night.

"It's the door from my dream…" Sora whispered.

"But…how can this-" Akyra started, but was quickly interrupted by Sora, who yelled, "What's that voice? Listen!"

"Careful. This is the last haven you'll find here. Beyond, there is no light to protect you. But don't be afraid. Your heart is the mightiest weapon of all. Remember, you are the one who will open the door to the light…"

"Did you hear it?" Sora asked. The other three exchanged puzzled looks as they shrugged their shoulders.

"I don't hear anything," said Goofy.

"Strange… That voice was so familiar. Maybe it's just my imagination…" Sora concluded.

"Maybe you should rest up…" Donald suggested.

"No…" Sora muttered, "I'm fine. We're all fine. That's what counts…"

"We'll never leave your side," said Akyra, placing her hand in the middle of the group.

"We'll always stick together," Donald followed, placing his hand on top of hers.

"We'll never give up hope," Goofy added, placing his hand as well.

Sora's saddened face broke into a wide grin as he finished, "All for one… And one for all…"

With that, he turned to face the door, placed both hands on each of their handles, and pulled the door open. A beam of blinding light shot out of the door, pulling the four friends inside of it. Once every last one had vanished, the bright light slowly dimmed as the door closed behind them.

* * *

--Akyra: (insane sobbing)  
Me: I said I'll get it repaired! Why does it matter so much to you?  
Akyra: Because if it wasn't for the PS2, I wouldn't be here today.  
Me: True...very true.  
Sora: AHA! So you do love something more than me! Now will you stop tackling me?  
Akyra: (gasp) Sora? SORA! (tackles Sora)  
Me: MEEP! (tackles Sora)  
Sora: AAH! (is tackled by rabid fangirls)  
Audience: Seriously, Sora. For your own safety. You've got to stop hanging around here.  
Sora: Why leave when there's free cookies! (gobbles cookies)-- 


	43. Destiny Islands?

--Akyra: Yay! The battle against Ansem!  
Me: (sob) (sob) (sniffle) (sob)  
Audience: Now what's the problem?  
Me: (sniff) Two more chapters then... (sniff) The fanfiction's over! (cry)  
Audience: WHAT?  
Akyra: Audience, you actually care?  
Audience: NO! (sniff)--

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only own Akyra. And that's about it. (eye twitches)

* * *

Akyra lay sprawled on the sand, her head drooped on one side and the delicate spray of sea salt on her face. She used to love this sensation back when she was on the islands. Hold on…sand? Sea salt? She opened her eyes and sat up bolt right. A beach…palm trees…and that long bridge that connected to the paopu tree she, Sora, Kairi and Riku had always gathered around, sharing ideas and thoughts. 

"Sora…is this…" she asked slowly.

"Our…island?" Sora finished. And so it was. The Destiny Islands, the place they had been looking for this whole time. For a long while, nobody spoke. The sound of waves rushing on to the beach and sinking back into the ocean was all that could be heard.

"We've got to go to the Secret Place," Sora said after a long pause, "I have to see that door again."

"Fair enough," Akyra answered, leading Donald and Goofy to their Secret Place. No sooner had they taken a few steps forward, that mysterious, empty voice spoke again.

"This world has been connected," it said.

"Who said that?" Donald yelped as he drew his little staff.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed. There is so much to learn. You understand so little."

"I remember those words. He said the exact same thing to me back when we were still on the islands…" Sora gasped, casting Akyra a serious look.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble under their feet as if an earthquake was in progress. The ocean had disappeared and turned into a large purple hole, leaving huge, deep cracks on the sand. Huge mountains erupted from various parts of the island, destroying everything in their wake. One of the mountains tore right through the bridge, breaking it and causing the little island with the paopu tree to disappear. Finally, the island swiftly ripped into two pieces, leaving a gaping crater in the heart of the island. The two teenagers stared wide-eyed at the destruction of their once peaceful home, not daring to believe what was going on.

"Take a look at this tiny place…" Ansem's voice continued. The four of them whirled around and spotted Riku, clothed in his darkness ensemble, staring at the now purple ocean.

"To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison surrounded by water," Ansem said, who was using Riku's body to speak for him, "He sought a way to cross over into other worlds, and he opened his heart to darkness…"

Riku slowly turned to face them but as he did so, he gradually disappeared into darkness only to be replaced by non other than Ansem.

"Riku!" Sora shouted.

"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!"

Ansem gave a menacing smile and approached the group. They took a few steps back.

"You see," he carried on, "Darkness is the heart's true essence."

"That's not true!" Sora yelled, "The heart may be weak, and sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned, that deep down there's a light that never goes out!"

The rest of the group looked up at him proudly and took their place at his side, preparing themselves for battle.

"So you have come this far and still you understand nothing," Ansem said quietly as something dark started materialized behind him, "Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"

* * *

Ansem was probably one of the hardest opponents they had face so far. He attacked continuously and showed no sign to stop any time soon. Plus, whenever any of the four friends had a chance to attack him, his Heartless guardian would appear in front of him and protect him from any possible harm. 

"That Ansem is really starting to annoy me!" Donald quacked through gritted teeth.

"How are we supposed to attack him when his Heartless guardian is always protecting him?" Akyra asked in disbelief.

"Hang on, guys, I've got an idea!" Sora yelled, taking quite a few steps back. He raised his Keyblade in one hand and, twitching his finger a little, tossed it. The Keyblade darted through the air towards Ansem, spinning like a top. It took one good slash at him then spinned right back like a boomerang.

"Awesome!" Goofy cheered, finally getting the chance to attack.

Ansem scowled at Sora and pointed at him. His Heartless guardian immediately unattached itself and glided towards Sora with a hungry look on its face. Sora quickly ducked and positioned his Keyblade in front of him.

"No!" Akyra cried. She bolted forward and skidded to a halt in front of Sora, grinding her teeth in fury and readying her weapon.

"Akyra, what do you think you're do-" Sora was interrupted by the loud crash that rang through the air when the Heartless guardian had smashed into Akyra. It held her in one position, not giving her the ability to move freely.

"Akyra what did you-"

"Go for Ansem, hurry!" she interrupted as she tried to pry herself free from the guardian's grip.

"I can't leave you here!" he replied.

"No. Get Ansem while I keep his guardian busy! Don't worry…I'll be fine," she assured him.

Sora smiled and took her word for it. He dashed off for Ansem and seized his chance at attacking him. Ansem seemed weaker without his guardian to protect him and after a long battle, Ansem retreated from the four fighters and rose in the air, summoning his guardian to go along with him.

"Insolent fools…" he muttered as he floated towards the large crater he left earlier.

"That's it! Run away like a coward!" Donald pouted.

Sora tore his gaze away from Ansem and rushed to Akyra, who had been fighting off the guardian this whole time.

"Are you okay?" he asked, helping her up.

"Yeah…" she muttered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Where did Ansem go?"

"He's down by that crater," Sora answered as he pointed to the little speck that hovered over the void, "Akyra…Thank you!"

"It…it was nothing…"

"Come on, guys, Ansem's getting away!" Donald screeched. The two teenagers nodded and followed their friends across the sandy beach and towards the crater where Ansem waited.

* * *

When they arrived, they found Ansem floating around the crater, patiently awaiting their arrival. Sora took a huge leap and jumped into the crater. The others did the same, but an invisible wall surrounding the crater stopped them from getting closer. 

"WHAT IS THIS?" Akyra raged, slamming the barrier with both her fists.

Donald and Goofy tried attacking the barrier, hoping to break it, however their efforts were useless. This battle was for Sora and Sora only. Ansem laughed heartily at their feeble efforts and disappeared in a shroud of darkness. A dark shape resembling Sora's shadow soon replaced him; the shadow they had fought in Neverland. It grew bigger and bigger until it was at least twelve times taller than Sora. Instead of trembling in fear, a huge grin formed on Sora's face. He remembered Darkside. Its random attacks and his battle techniques were still crystal clear in his mind.

"What is that thing?" Donald asked nervously. Goofy shrugged his shoulders, his eyes still glued on the battle between Sora and Darkside.

The Heartless was so large that Sora had to wait a few moments until it crouched down to take in a few hits. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing and in a small number of minutes, the Darkside collapsed into a cloud of dust. Once the dust settled, a dark portal appeared and Ansem stepped out of it, his piercing orange eyes burning into Sora's.

"He has to fight Ansem again? WITHOUT US?" Donald hollered.

* * *

Donald was wrong. Sora didn't have to fight Ansem again; he had to finish him off. Since Ansem still wasn't healed from their last encounter, this battle was a lot shorter than the last. Ansem's guardian still wouldn't let him near Ansem at all but he didn't mind that at all. He simply kept his distance and continuously tossed his Keyblade like a boomerang, the only way he knew how to inflict some damage on Ansem. However, before he had the chance to destroy him once and for all, Ansem retreated and sank into the crater, disappearing from view. The invisible barriers that surrounded the crater suddenly vanished, sending the others tumbling into its depths. 

"Sora you did it!" Goofy cheered. But, before Sora had the chance to respond, the crater's surface suddenly turned into a deep void, sending the four of them falling into darkness…

* * *

--Me: Such Mary Sueness...  
Akyra: I am NOT a Mary Sue!  
Me: I know you're not. But there are always those chapters were you look like a total Mary Sue.  
Audience: (hysteric crying) We're too young to die!  
Random Person who hates my ficcy: Oh, get over it!  
Me: O.o How did you get in?  
Random person who hates my ficcy: Meh, I'm just here for the cookies.  
Me: GET OUT!  
Random Person who hates my ficcy: I shall destroy you with the Keyblade!  
Me: Where did you get that from?  
Random Person who hates my ficcy: Uh...  
Sora: There he is! Stop, thief!  
Me/Akyra: (gasp) SORA! (glomps Sora)  
Sora: (is glomped by insane fangirls) HELP! -- 


	44. World Of Chaos

--Me: Mwah! Victory ish mine! It took all my savings but I did it! I bought a new PS2! It's purdy...  
Akyra: Ooh...shiny...  
Me: Now if you'll excuse me... (hooks up PS2) (pops in Kingdom Hearts disc) Here, I come Riku! Say your prayers! (cheesy grin)  
Akyra: Well, since the authoress is a little tied up right now...  
Me: OH! So you think taking Donald and Goofy away from me will weaken me? Think again! (little Sora on screen charges at Riku)  
Akyra: Anyways, we hope you will enjoy the before last chapter of the ficcy and the last one when it comes...  
Me: Feel my power, Evil Riku! Mwahahaha!  
Akyra: (sigh)--

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts and I only own Akyra. (pokes Akyra) Mine! I own you!

* * *

Surrounded by total darkness, the four friends came to an abrupt stop. They were gently floating in the air, as if weightless. No light was visible anywhere so the four friends had to continuously blink until their eyes became used to the darkness. However, the total darkness did not shield sound, and Ansem's booming voice erupted all around them. 

"Behold the endless abyss! Within lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!"

A small light appeared in a corner and the four of them struggled to turn around to face it. A tall, elegant white door was clearly visible upon a floating bright platform. It was the only source of light among the empty space of darkness.

"Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

A rumbling sound suddenly filled the air as something strange appeared beneath them. Ansem seemed to have merged himself with another ship-like creature. As the monster grew and grew larger in size, the four of them were able to see a clearer version of their next opponent. Ansem was attached to the front of the monster while the back of it consisted of a cage of some sort. It was so strange and despicable that words alone cannot describe it's vileness.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem concluded.

The ground seemed to suddenly give in under them and the four were sent falling again through total darkness. A dark portal near the centre of the monster appeared and sucked Donald, Akyra and Goofy in with it, leaving Sora to fall into endless darkness.

As he fell through the vast, empty darkness, Sora took one last look at the creature before tilting his head forward and staring into blank space. He had lost all hope in defeating Ansem. Maybe this was the way it was supposed to end…

"Giving up already?" Riku's voice taunted from his head, "Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."

Sora abruptly opened his eyes as he heard Riku once again. He wasn't going to let Riku tease him as he used to whenever Sora lost a fight. And he wasn't about to let Ansem win this fight. With an angry smirk on his face, he summoned his weapon and glided upwards, Ansem's monstrous creature appearing in the distance.

At the sight of Sora, Ansem growled angrily and drew a dark weapon from the darkness that surrounded them. Sora ignore him and flew straight towards him, slashing him the first chance he had.

* * *

Even without his Heartless guardian protecting him and blocking every hit that came too close, the battle against Ansem was just as hard as their previous battle. Ansem was ten times bigger than before and therefore gave Sora a hard time to strike him. Also, Ansem made bright lasers appear at random that sometimes struck Sora when he failed to notice them. Nevertheless, Sora was still able to slash Ansem at will. After many minutes of endless battling, a Heartless crest suddenly appeared between them, protecting Ansem from harm and opening a similar portal to the one Akyra, Donald and Goofy had been sucked into. Not wasting any time, Sora glided towards the portal and entered it, hoping to find his friends.

* * *

"Good gosh, what happened…" Akyra moaned as she scratched her head. The portal had brought her to an equally darkened room with a lonely blue platform on which she stood. A Heartless symbol was clearly visible in the centre of the platform. 

"Donald?" she called as her voice echoed in the darkness, "Goofy?"

The only thing that responded her was the appearance of a dark portal above the Heartless crest. She curiously approached it, hoping that someone familiar would emerge from it. She didn't get her wish. Instead, many more portals materialized on other parts of the circular platform. At least twenty Heartless came out of each portal and crept towards her, ready for battle.

"That's it, you worthless Heartless. Fell the wrath of Akyra!" she screeched angrily, slashing anything that came in her way.

Suddenly, another dark portal materialized above the Heartless crest, and who would emerge from it other than…

"SORA!" Akyra cried in relief when she caught a glimpse of him.

"Akyra! You're okay! Need any help?" he asked, readying his Keyblade.

"Well, since you're offering…" she said, pointing to the Heartless.

"Say no more…" he answered with a triumphant smile as he joined her in battle. The Heartless were destroyed twice as fast as they would have been if Sora hadn't joined the fight. When the Heartless had been cleared, a small red portal had taken their place. It hung in the air, suspended into place by two bands.

"What's that?" Akyra asked, poking it with the tip of her Staffblade.

"Let's attack it, then see what happens," Sora suggested. Akyra nodded in agreement and slashed the orb. Then, Sora took a turn and struck it as well. After a short moment of striking the orb, it suddenly exploded in a flash of white light, hurling the two teenagers back to the Endless Abyss where Ansem waited for them.

"You had to fight THIS?" Akyra asked as she glided around Ansem, taking a long good look at him.

"Akyra, LOOK OUT!" Sora shouted, grabbing Akyra's collar and yanking her out of the way. It seemed that Akyra failed to notice a number of lasers suddenly appearing behind her.

"Thanks for the warning…" Akyra said, slightly shook up from the incident.

"Just be careful next time, okay? Here, follow me," Sora said, letting go of her and gliding towards Ansem. Taking his word for it, she flew towards Ansem and attacked at will, closely following Sora's instructions.

* * *

"Where am I?" Goofy asked himself as he scanned the room he was now in. He was in the exact same room Akyra had been moments before and was standing on the same platform, with the same Heartless symbol in the middle. 

"I wonder where- Gwarsh! Heartless!" Goofy yelled, suddenly alerted. Many Darkball Heartless suddenly materialized around him, smirking sinisterly and closing in on him.

"Goofy, are you okay?" Sora asked as he and Akyra emerged from thin air.

"Sora, Akyra! You're back!" Goofy cheered.

"Of course. You didn't think we'd leave you hear all alone now, did you?" Akyra asked.

"Now let's get those Heartless!" Sora ordered, charging for the nearest Darkball. After every last Heartless had been defeated and a quick slash at another hanging orb, the same bright light sent them flying back to the Endless Abyss, this time accompanied by Goofy.

Now that the Artilleries had been defeated, it was time to fight the Face. This battle was slightly easier than the last ones since the Goofy had entered the battle. Also, Ansem weakened more and more every time they destroy a specific part of the creature, so he was fairly easy to defeat. The Face usually attacked by shooting more lasers out of nowhere and also tried biting whoever got too close to its face.

"Ugh… Ansem has horrible breath," Akyra said when she tried slashing the nose. In no time at all, the Face fell sideways and opened its mouth very wide, revealing another portal.

"Come on. Donald must be in there!" Sora said gleefully as he glided towards the portal, closely followed by Goofy and Akyra.

* * *

"Donald? Are you there?" Goofy called once they had drifted onto the platform. 

"Get me out of here!" came the reply. A bundle of white feathers bolted towards the three of them at the speed of sound and skidded to a halt behind them, trembling violently.

"What's with you?" Sora asked.

"H-H-Heartless! HUNDREDS OF THEM!" Donald answered, still shaking.

And so he was right. A countless number of Heartless surrounded them, their sharp, threatening swords glimmering in the platform's light. The four of them didn't need any instructions. They charged at the Heartless and slashed anything that came too close to them. And soon enough, the whole chamber was filled with the sounds of keys, shields, staves and swords clanking against each other.

* * *

Although those Heartless were one of the most powerful Heartless they had ever faced off against, the four fighters still managed to battle their way to victory and escape through the dark portal which brought them back to the Endless Abyss. The creature they had been fighting the whole time was dangerously weak. Practically every part of it has been destroyed. But still, the four of them felt that they had forgotten something. 

"Look over there! It's the Main Core!" Donald quacked, pointing to the very centre of the monster.

The area that was once blocked off by a barrier was now unprotected and susceptible to their attacks. With a grin of triumph, Donald flew to the Core first and struck it with a ball of fire. The Core took the hit but did not defend itself in return.

"That's lucky!" Goofy said happily as he joined Donald. It was the easiest target they had ever have to face. All it took was a few bashes and a stroke of magic to defeat it. The Main Core quickly withered itself up and dissolved into space once Akyra had struck it one last time.

"That's it? Ansem's defeated?" Donald questioned. The reply to his question came at once, for the sound of Ansem's roar filled the air before anybody had the chance to answer him. Ansem had replenished himself and was once again ready for battle.

* * *

"Aren't these guys ever tired of fighting?" Akyra asked, narrowly dodging one of Ansem's lasers. 

"Tell me about it," Sora said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Ansem, who had become dangerously weak, had also become dangerously stronger. He came up with new random attacks and wasn't afraid to use them. The team had to be extra careful about these. But no matter how strong Ansem became, their anger was stronger. They did not care if at some point, Ansem clawed at them and hurt them badly. They weren't about to give up. Not now, not ever. Finally, once Ansem finally began to weaken, the team seized their chance.

"This one is for the King!" Goofy yelled, striking Ansem with all his might.

"This one is for the Key!" Donald shouted, casting one of his best thunder spells any of them had ever seen.

"This one is for Riku and Kairi!" Akyra screeched, bashing Ansem's head as hard as she could.

"And this one, Ansem," Sora started, raising his Keyblade high in the air, "this one's for you!"

Gathering up all the strength he had, Sora slashed the creature for the final time. Ansem let out a roar so loud that the team could have sworn they heard its echo. The four friends flew further away from it to get a better view at what was happening. A large fire erupted from all around the ship-like monster. Every piece began to dissolve and re-enter the ship's core. The core started shrinking and continued to grow smaller until it disappeared into the darkness. Eventually, the flames died down and the four awestruck friends were left floating in total darkness once again…

* * *

--Me: No, no, NO! (little Sora on screen moans) (continue screen appears) O.o  
Akyra: Alright, KH-Akyra, that's the 6th time! How many times are you going to try to beat Riku?  
Me: I guess you're right. I'll go write some fanfiction. (gasp) Eh...(eye twitches) Fanfction? (sob)  
Audience: We're too young! (cry)  
Mushu: I'm too wonderful to die! (weep)  
Everyone: (insane sobbing)  
Akyra: O.o-- 


	45. A New Journey

--Me: (steps on stage with microphone) (taps microphone) Can everybody hear me? (microphone feedback)  
Everyone: (scream)  
Me: Oops, sorry about that. Welcome one and all to the final chapter of 'An Extra Heart'  
Everyone: (cheers)  
Audience: Meh...  
Me: Quiet you... Anyways, the party will begin once everyone has finished reading the chapter.  
Akyra: SUGAR!  
Me: Chapter first! Sugar later!  
Akyra: Meh...  
Me: Anyways, don't let me keep you waiting any longer. (drum roll) I present to you...the final chapter of... 'An Extra Heart'!  
Everyone: (applauds)--

Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only own Akyra. Take that, annoying disclaimer!

* * *

Although Ansem had become dangerously weak over the course of the battle, he still managed to save himself from the creature and reappear in front of the team to speak to them again. 

"It is futile," he said calmly once he had reached them, "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness."

With a threatening glower, he spinned around and faced the door to Kingdom Hearts, his great arms spread out like an eagle.

"Kingdom Hearts!" his voice boomed, "Fill me with the power of darkness!"

The gleaming door creaked open a little bit and the four friends watched with fright as tiny plumes of thick darkness seeped out of the crack.

"Supreme darkness…" Ansem finished, advancing towards the door.

"You're wrong…" Sora said, serenely but firmly, "I know now, without a doubt. Kingdom Hearts…is light!"

The darkness that streamed out of the door suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was immediately replaced by a bright ray of light that shot out of the crack like a bolt of lightning. The light illuminated the vast darkness with a light so brilliant that Ansem had no other choice but to surrender.

"Light… but why?" Ansem asked in a low voice.

The light engulfed his entire body and soon enough, Ansem was nowhere to be seen. The ray of light grew fainter and shot back into the door, leaving the empty space as dark as it was before. However, the door to Kingdom Hearts did not close.

"Come on!" Sora yelled, gesturing for the others to follow as he glided towards the stone platform.

"We have to shut this door," he spoke again, this time attempting to shut the huge door.

Donald and Goofy took the other side of the door, while Akyra aided Sora with his side. They tried to push the door shut with everything they had but the door refused to budge. After a long moment of pushing, Goofy took a small peek at what lied within the doorway. However, he did not stop staring after a quick second and Donald had to yank him away from the opening.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" he quacked. Still curious at what Goofy was staring at, he too took a quick peek.

"The Heartless?" Donald yelled in astonishment as the other three let go of the door and peered through the crack. Millions of Heartless were crawling around the walls and ceiling and some were even crawling on top of the rest. The large area didn't seem to be big enough to hold the huge swarm.

"Hurry!" Goofy shouted as the four of them went back to pushing the door.

"I can't…" Sora whispered. He believed it was hopeless that they would ever be able to close the door. That is, until…

"Don't give up!" said an oddly familiar voice. Riku stood inside Kingdom Hearts, pulling the door inwards and smiling with hope. "Come on, you guys. Together, we can do it!" he assured them.

"Okay!" Sora agreed and shoved the door once again. It was still no use. Even with Riku's help, the door didn't seem to want to move.

"It's hopeless!" Donald cried, banging the door with his foot.

"What's that?" Akyra asked, peeking once again through the crack. Something was different inside Kingdom Hearts. A strange light had appeared among the Heartless. Sora, Donald and Goofy glanced through the crack and watched the scene. A little mouse with wide, round ears stood atop a large boulder, poking a few Heartless away with what seemed to be a second Keyblade.

"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy cried at the exact same time with gleeful smiles on their faces.

"Now, Sora. Let's close this door for good!" King Mickey called out as he raised his weapon high in the air. The king's Keyblade looked exactly like Sora's except the handle was silver and the key itself was gold, unlike Sora's, which is reversed.

"But…" Sora began.

"Don't worry," the king assured him, "There will always be a door to the light."

"Sora, you can trust King Mickey," Goofy said happily.

"Now! They're coming!" Riku warned, looking back at the Heartless and attempting to shut the door again.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you," King Mickey finished.

Something peculiar happened at that moment. With the five of them pushing, or in some cases pulling, the door, it actually began to move. But before it had the chance to shut, Riku looked up at his two friends. He smiled at Akyra and turned to face Sora, looking him straight in the air as if he were reading his mind.

"Take care of her," he finished as the door slowly approached its destination.

Sora nodded with a smile and joined his friends by giving the door one more push. It finally came to a shut. The group took a few steps back and Sora raised his Keyblade in the air, a strange light emitting from the tip. Somewhere inside Kingdom Hearts, King Mickey copied his every move. The light of both Keyblades shone brilliantly and engulfed the door, as it did to Ansem, in light. It grew brighter and brighter and in a few moments, it covered the entire door. Suddenly, the light quickly dimmed and vanished, leaving an empty space where the door stood seconds ago. The door to Kingdom Hearts and all its contents, including Riku and Mickey, were gone…

Sora, Donald and Goofy stared wide-eyed at the door, not daring to believe what had just happened. Akyra turned away from the empty space in hope of seeing some way to escape but instead caught a glimpse of someone else.

"Look!" she yelled, snapping Sora out of his awestruck state, "It's Kairi!"

Without daring to waste another second, Sora bolted towards Kairi, practically tripping over something along the way. Akyra also took a few steps forward but slowed down to a stop. As she watched Sora become smaller in the distance, she crossed her arms and stared at the stone floor.

"Akyra! Aren't you going to say goodbye to Kairi?" Donald asked, slowing down to a halt by her side.

"Yeah, it's the last chance you'll get to say goodbye," Goofy continued. Akyra picked up her head, and stared out into the distance.

"No," she said peacefully.

"No?" Donald asked in shock. Akyra shook her head.

"There's no need. I may not know much about what will happen but there's one thing I'm sure of. I'll see Kairi again someday. And Riku too. Why say goodbye when it really isn't?" she finished.

Donald and Goofy glanced at each other for a moment and grinned. Akyra chuckled at their goofy expressions and continued watching Sora, wearing one of her most triumphant smiles.

"Kairi!" Sora cried as he reached her.

"Sora!" she called back, moving to the edge of the platform.

Before she had the chance to come closer, though, the platform beneath them began to rumble slightly and separate into two pieces. Kairi, who was caught by surprise, almost fell off her platform hadn't Sora grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"Kairi!" Sora called again as the two platforms began moving in opposite directions, "Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"

"I know you will!" Kairi replied.

Both platforms were moving too far away from each other and Sora had no choice but to let Kairi's hand leave his grip. Suddenly, the blank darkness that surrounded them became a pale hue of nave blue; a night sky. Behind Sora, thousands, or maybe even millions of tiny lights shot out of the ground. Some of them made their way to the sky while others slowly drifted behind Kairi. Wherever the tiny lights hit, a huge palm tree or a bridge would erupt from the ground. Trees, caves, houses, you name it rose from beneath, connecting to each other with bridges and ladders that magically appeared out of nowhere. The Destiny Islands had returned. Kairi turned her head. Once she caught a glimpse of what was happening behind her, a large smile broke across her face. She turned to face Sora again. Light had almost entirely surrounded him. He tried shouting something but Kairi couldn't hear what he was saying. Finally, the light covered him entirely and Kairi watched him vanish into thin air. The light slowly turned itself into a sparkling ocean and the Destiny Islands were complete. She continued to stare out into the horizon and smiled happily, a tear swelling up in her eye.

* * *

Kairi walked across the beach and followed the trail she and her friends had always used to reach the Secret Place. The wind was blowing in her direction and she felt the salt spray across her face, cooling her down on this particularly warm day. Once she had arrived to her destination, she slowly kneeled down and cleared the leaves from her path before crawling into the narrow tunnel. The Secret Place looked exactly as it did when they left it. A large number of little scribbles and drawings filled the cave's walls and a few rocks. Kairi ran her fingers across the smooth stone, every little scribble filling her thoughts up with memories. She abruptly came to a stop where she and Sora had once drawn something a long time ago. She remembered that day, when they had both drawn each other. She didn't have the heart to tell him that his drawing of her looked absolutely silly… 

She could almost see him again…drawing her… She held out her hand to touch him but he disappeared in an instant. Kairi put her entire hand on the drawing they had done. But, among all those tears that began to stream down her face, she still managed to smile…

* * *

"Well, now what do we do?" Donald asked as they continued walking down the path. Nothing but a few bushes, a tree or two and a continuous field of grass littered the sides of a long, narrow path that reached into the horizon. 

"We've got to find Riku and King Mickey," Sora concluded.

"That sounds simple! But, uh, where do we start looking for that door to the light?" Akyra asked.

The four of them came to a stop and looked at each other. Sighing heavily, they looked to the floor. They were completely clueless.

"Pluto?" Goofy asked, squinting to get a better look. Indeed, Pluto was walking towards them, wagging his tail excitedly and holding something in his mouth.

"Hey, boy! Where've you been?" Goofy said, patting Pluto's head once he reached them.

"Hey!" Donald quacked, pointing a feathered finger to Pluto's mouth. The object he was holding has white and very thin. A note of some sort.

"Gwarsh, that's the King's seal!" Goofy cried. A seal the shape of Mickey's head was clearly stamped on the note, holding it together.

"Hey, have you seen King Mickey?" Sora asked, bending down to be in level with the dog's face. Pluto suddenly perked up, whirled around and ran down the tan path.

"Guys, let's go!" Sora shouted as he followed the other three in their pursuit to catch Pluto.

"Remember, Sora. You are the one who will open the door to the light," said the same mysterious voice that Sora had heard many times before.

"Sora, are you okay?" Akyra asked once she turned back to find him.

"Yeah, it's just that annoying voice that keeps talking to me…" he answered.

Akyra smiled slyly and said, "If I would've known any better, Sora, I'd say you're hearing things…"

Sora put on an annoyed grin and changed the subject, "Can you believe that our journey is already over?"

"Yes."

Sora whirled around and faced her with a surprised expression on his face.

"That adventure is over," she started, pointing at the road behind Sora, "but this one," this time she pointed at the road behind her, "has just begun…"

Sora smiled at her and started walking down the path again.

"But…" she continued, grabbing his arm and making him stop, "Before we start our next journey, I'd like you to answer a question of mine that you've always avoided."

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Remember? I asked it to you in Traverse Town and you did everything you can to avoid it. Don't think I didn't notice…" she said with a sarcastic grin, "So… Do you have a crush on Kairi?"

As she asked her question, she poked him two or three times. Sora sighed and approached her even more.

"You don't give up, do you? Well, since you're asking, I guess I can't hide it any longer…" Akyra watched him with an eager smile on her face.

"Well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

What happened next was done so fast that Akyra could hardly grasp what was going on. It all happened in less than ten seconds. Sora grabbed both her shoulders, pulled her close and kissed her. Akyra felt a huge wave of happiness wash over her. She could have stood in that same spot for eternity, never wanting it to end. Finally, Sora let her go and took a small step back, waiting to see her reaction. She smiled at him and laughed, too lost for words.

"Now do you know who I have a crush on?" Sora asked, crossing his arms with a grin.

"Yep, yes I do…" she answered rather quickly.

"So, what do you say we begin this next adventure now?" he asked again, pointing at Donald and Goofy who were still trying to catch up to Pluto.

"I'm right beside you!" Akyra answered with a smile.

Sora smiled back and set off down the rocky path, Akyra right by his side. When their journey had just started, Akyra felt that there was no hope that what she wished would ever become reality. How wrong she was. Her wish had just come true. Maybe, just maybe, there still is hope out there, somewhere beyond that road. And what surprises and dangers will their next journey bring? The only way to find out is to follow that road. The road of transition. Out of one adventure and into the next…

* * *

--Me: ...and there you have it!  
Akyra: O.O SQUEEEE! (runs around in circles on the ceiling)  
Audience: PARTY TIME! (Simple and Clean starts playing) (confetti falls)  
Mushu: Authoress, it is time you answer the annoying question. Will you write a sequel?  
Me: Well, for Chain of Memories, I don't own a Game Boy Advance so I was never able to play it. But, I still know what happens thanks to my research! I may, then again I may not write a COM sequel. As for the Kingdom Hearts 2 sequel, my answer is... of course I will write a KH2 sequel!  
Everyone: (cheer) (continues partying)  
Audience: Garlic soda! (tackles drinks counter)  
Mushu: Chips and Garlic dip! (tackles food counter)  
Akyra: (is doing the river dance on the ceiling with Sora, Kairi and Riku)  
Me: Well, since everyone's tied up now, it's up to me to end this. Thank you to everyone who has ever read this ficcy. Special thankies to every last one of my awesome reviewers! You guys are the best. Rock on! Extra special thankies to Sora53, who has been reviewing from the start and sent me an uber-useful game script to help me finish this story. Thank you so much! Thank you to my reviewers, thank you to my readers, thank you to everyone! XD-- 


End file.
